Jim Hogeboom, Lucia Mar Unified School District’s superintendent, made one thing very clear to the Nipomo High School community that packed the May 6 school board meeting: At the end of the school year, Michelle Johnson would no longer be the high school’s principal.
“It’s time to move on, and I know that’s not what you want to hear … but I also know that her decision is final,” Hogeboom told the crowd at the Clark Center for the Performing Arts. “Mrs. Johnson’s decision was incredibly complicated.”
He added that because the issue was a personnel matter, he couldn’t really say much about it. Students, teachers, staff members, alumni, and parents who attended the May 6 board meeting all had one thing to say about losing their principal: It’s unacceptable.
Though the issue of Johnson’s position wasn’t on the school board’s agenda that night, the community showed up to speak during the public comment portion of the meeting, using up a little less than two hours of the evening.
Many students who took to the public comment podium told the school board that Johnson was the reason Nipomo High School was such a great school to attend; that she created a safe, encouraging learning environment; and that the school wouldn’t be the same without her.
Nipomo High School English teacher Nathan Shields told the board Johnson inspired teachers to be better. He said he received an email from the district that said Johnson had chosen to take a position in the district as an adaptive physical education specialist.
“What was her alternative?” he asked them. “Was she bullied in a way that gave her no other alternative except that?”
For Shields and the rest of those who spoke during public comment, the decision seemed to have come without warning. Parents and students received a letter in the mail from the district informing them about the decision approximately a month ago, while teachers and staff received an email. Many believe district administrators forced the decision on Johnson.
“If it becomes a choice between keeping the office of superintendent or keeping Mrs. Johnson, I choose Mrs. Johnson,” Shields said at the end of his public comment.
The crowd responded by giving Shields a standing ovation.
High school junior Mika Kilpelainen helped spearhead an online petition via Change.org a week prior to the May 6 school board meeting. The petition received more than 900 signatures within one week. During the school board meeting, Kilpelainen said it was the easiest thing he’s done.
“If Mrs. Johnson has to lose her job, I will make sure I work as hard as I can to make sure you guys lose yours,” Kilpelainen told the school board.
This article appears in May 1-8, 2014.