The embattled principal at Honokaa High and Intermediate has been removed from the school through the end of the year.
The embattled principal at Honokaa High and Intermediate has been removed from the school through the end of the year.
Marcella McClelland — who raised the ire of students, parents and faculty recently when she announced unpopular teaching assignment changes for the next academic year, among various other complaints about her management style — is temporarily on leave, according to Art Souza, complex area superintendent for schools in Honokaa, Kealakehe, Kohala and Konawaena.
“I just finished with the faculty here,” he said Wednesday afternoon. “We have put the principal on department-directed leave. She’ll be out, and this is done in the best interest of the school, and also in the best interest of the health and safety of the principal.”
Vice Principal Trisha Burns will serve as acting principal, and two other vice principals will help operate the school, he added.
Souza said that McClelland had received threats as a result of the unrest that was stirred up at a School Community Council meeting last month, when teachers and parents attempted to confront the principal concerning various complaints and she walked out of the meeting.
Souza said he could not go into detail about the threats without violating her privacy.
“We’re coming up on the last weeks of school … and it’s very, very important that we get through school in a dignified manner and, most importantly, I want youngsters who deserve to graduate with dignity to have that opportunity. I think for this kind of drama to be swirling around on campus and in the community now takes away from the importance of that graduation for the kids and from the importance of ending the school year on a positive note,” he said.
Souza added that as he and his staff look into the complaints against McClelland, it was important to make a move to relieve concerns among faculty, parents and students, as well as the “insecurity from day to day of not knowing what’s going to happen and what’s not going to happen.”
The decision to remove McClelland also would give him and his staff time to gather more information. Souza said he couldn’t speak about the complaints against the principal, because he had just received on Wednesday morning a file several hundred pages long compiling faculty concerns about McClelland. The superintendent said that should the investigation into McClelland go through the summer, arrangements will be made to temporarily fill her position.
Honokaa faculty member Miles Okumura, who McClelland planned to re-assign to teaching a special education class instead of a special motivation class he had been teaching for at-risk youth, said Wednesday that he didn’t think the action taken by Souza went far enough.
“(Is the Department of Education) taking us seriously? I would say no, not yet. This is being called a leave of absence until the beginning of next school year. She’ll still be principal according to her status. They said she was removed to improve the school climate … and they used the words ‘for her safety.’ She wasn’t removed for the reasons that we’re complaining about,” he said.
In addition to the controversial reassignments of faculty members, which spurred the Hawaii State Teachers Association to file a grievance with the DOE, some employees say McClelland has shown favoritism to some teachers and punished others, while assigning unqualified teachers to teach important classes.
In an effort to inform parents and the community about their complaints, some faculty members have arranged an informational meeting tonight at 7 p.m. at the Honokaa People’s Theater.
Email Colin M. Stewart at cstewart@hawaiitribune-herald.com.