Northpinellas: Punishment of principal stirs debate

TARPON SPRINGS -- Former Tarpon Springs High School principal John Nicely agrees he made a mistake -- a small one -- in an incident involving a student's grade, but should that have resulted in his transfer out of a job he loves?

No, he says, and Tarpon Springs students, teachers and parents overwhelmingly agree.

Outside the school, however, the ramifications of Nicely's misstep and his punishment remain a matter of debate. Pinellas County school administrators aren't talking yet. But many educators say they understand why he tried to help a student. Some said his punishment -- being transferred to an administrative job in the school district -- was too harsh.

"He's one of those principals you wish you could clone," said Rob McMahon, president of the Pinellas Classroom Teachers Association. "It just seems like the punishment doesn't really fit the crime. He did something he shouldn't have done, so go ahead and give him a reprimand. Suspend him for a couple of days, at the very most."

From Pasco County, however, John Long sees the issue differently.

"I certainly don't have a problem with what the Pinellas County School District did," said Long, superintendent for Pasco County schools. "I think he made a serious mistake . . . that would destroy the credibility of the Pinellas County School District."

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The spark that touched off this controversy involved the absentee policy at Tarpon Springs High School, which is tougher than the school district's policy. Tarpon Springs students take four classes a day for a nine-week period. That means one absence at Tarpon Springs High weighs more heavily than at some other schools.

Under Nicely, the school set up a policy of automatically failing students who miss 10 days or more in a nine-week period, including excused and unexcused absences. But students are given the option to appeal the decision, and the policy gives principals and other administrators the option of waiving the policy at their discretion.

In January and February, six seniors appealed their failing grades to Nicely. To encourage them not to miss more school, he worked out a deal that allowed them to keep the grade they would otherwise earn in their classes, as long as they had no more unexcused absences for the remainder of the school year.

"A principal has the right to waiver situations as he or she deems it necessary to do so," said Emmanuel Gombos, an assistant principal at Tarpon Springs High School.

The problem occurred with one of those students, who asked Nicely to send her passing grades to a college so she could qualify for a scholarship. He agreed to do so, but told her he would alert the college if she ended up with a failing grade. He kept the Fs on her transcript at the high school.

According to Nicely, the school district said he made a mistake by having different grades on the transcripts at the college and at the high school. He was told that his decision affected the school district's credibility with colleges and universities.

"I agree with them that I made a mistake," Nicely said, "but I don't agree with the consequence."

Administrators from the school district are prohibited by state law from discussing the case until 10 days after the investigation was completed. School Board members said they have been asked not to discuss the incident in case Nicely decides to appeal, a decision he had not made as of Friday.

Long, the Pasco superintendent, said he understands why his Pinellas counterparts would take Nicely's mistake so seriously. People who work in admissions offices at colleges and universities probably would oppose what Nicely did, he said.

"If I was a university person, I would be furious about that," he said.

In Hillsborough County, deputy superintendent Beth Shields said she didn't want to second-guess the school district's decision or Nicely's deal with the student. But she said she understands the need to motivate students and to offer lighter punishments than the rules would specify in some cases.

"I think those kind of incentives to students, especially seniors, are a good thing," she said of Nicely's offer to remove the failing grades if the students improved their attendance. "You have to say, he was trying to help the student."

When she was the principal at Plant High School in Tampa, Shields dealt with students who could have been suspended for their actions. But to motivate them to do better, she said, she told some of them they could avoid a suspension by improving their behavior.

"I think most principals do those kinds of things," she said.

She suggested that Nicely could have sent the college a transcript with the girl's failing grades and included a letter about the deal with the student.

For fear of identifying the student, Nicely would not say which college or university she plans to attend.

At the University of South Florida, the conflict between the grade on the transcripts at the college and the high school probably would never even come to the attention of the admissions office, let alone affect the high school's credibility in the eyes of the university, said Patricia Grossman, the associate director for undergraduate admissions.

"We only know what they send us," she said. "We wouldn't even know at this level" if there were a different grade on the high school transcript, she said.

It doesn't matter to the admissions office what the grades are on the transcript at the high school, she said. In the past, the admissions office has dealt with grades that came in later in the school year that were different from grades originally sent. Often that was because students had re-taken tests or classes and raised their grades, she said. If a lower grade were sent in for a student, the university could turn down a student who previously had been accepted, she said.

"That's why our admission is provisional at the beginning, and it's provisional on those final documents," Grossman said.

Former St. Petersburg High School principal Tom Petit said the Pinellas County school district's reputation is so strong among colleges and universities that this incident would not damage it. He also said he understands the need to motivate students in the way Nicely did.

"The important thing is to help the kids. Knowing John the way I did, I know he would do what he could to help kids," said Petit, who retired two years ago. "We like to give kids chances. I'd hope we'd give teachers chances, and especially principals."

Several parents and teachers have questioned whether Nicely's transfer had something to do with a pending sexual discrimination lawsuit filed by former Countryside High principal Sharon Lambeth.

Lambeth was transferred to a supervisory position at the school district after allowing a star football player tp retake two exams after graduation in 1997 to help him get into Bethune-Cookman College. She later filed a lawsuit against the school district, saying a male principal would not have been transferred.

The Nicely decision may have been affected by the pending lawsuit, said Marcia Cohen, Lambeth's attorney.

"This may have been an attempt by the Pinellas County School District to use his situation to prove . . . that they do not discriminate on the basis of sex," she said. "I'm suspecting that he would not have been demoted if Ms. Lambeth had not filed her lawsuit, but I don't know that for a fact."

As for Nicely, he said he could accomplish a lot in his new position as supervisor of work force development. He will talk to students about college, junior college and technical programs.

"I'm some place I think I can do some good for students for the district," he said.

Many students made calls to the school district last week, urging it to reconsider the transfer of their principal. One even took the message to the governor's mansion.

Priscilla Adams, who will be the co-valedictorian, received the Florida First Lady's Arts Recognition scholarship Wednesday and met with Gov. Jeb Bush. She took along an envelope with information about Nicely, including a letter he gave to faculty members Monday, a newspaper article and a letter she wrote on Nicely's behalf.

"The punishment doesn't really fit whatever crime they're saying he committed," she said. "It's negating the years he put in to help Pinellas County schools."

She doesn't know if her letter to the governor will do any good, but she felt she had to do something.

"I see what's being done as unjust," said Adams, 17. "Make an appropriate consequence. Don't do something that's completely absurd."

-- Katherine Gazella can be reached at (727) 445-4182 or gazella@sptimes.com.

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