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Springstead principal removed from top job
By JEFFREY S. SOLOCHEK, Times Staff Writer
SPRING HILL -- Springstead High School needs a new principal. Superintendent Wendy Tellone, who suspended Springstead principal Dot Dodge with pay two weeks ago, permanently removed Dodge from the job Wednesday. The School Board had made Dodge's suspension unpaid less than 12 hours earlier. Tellone gave the news to the school's staff during a 7:15 a.m. meeting Wednesday. Before the end of the day, Dodge's pictures were off the school walls, her desk was cleared out and her job was posted for applicants. Explanations were not forthcoming. Tellone and personnel director Barbara Kidder refused to give any details that might illuminate what caused Dodge's rapid fall from the leadership of Hernando County's largest school. They invoked confidentiality laws and rules. Dodge could not be reached. The state Department of Education had no information filed on the case. Board members said they had few details themselves. However, some did squelch any notion that Dodge had done anything to harm students, staff members or the school. "My understanding is it deals with some kind of personal problem," board member Robert Wiggins said. "I am not aware of any situation where students were ever harmed or their well-being was ever threatened." He noted that there have been no reports from law enforcement agencies alleging any criminal activity. Wiggins and other board members stood by Tellone's decision. "If there were any questions, it would have been brought up" during Tuesday's board meeting, Vice Chairwoman Sandra Nicholson said. "The board is fully behind Dr. Tellone and what she has decided." Chairman John Druzbick said he hoped the district's ongoing investigation into Dodge's situation would end soon. She remains a district employee, although unpaid and without a position, pending the outcome. "I just wish the investigation would come back to let us know exactly what is going on, so we know exactly what we're dealing with," Druzbick said. In the meantime, the district is moving forward with a quick search for a new principal. A call went out for Springstead teachers to volunteer on the selection committee, and representatives from the school advisory committee and Parent Teacher Association were selected. Candidate interviews are tentatively scheduled for May 7, with the goal to have a decision by May 20. No applicants had come forth by 4 p.m. Wednesday, when the district offices closed for the day. The school continued to operate as usual despite the change at the top, said interim principal Ken Pritz, also the district's executive director of school services. Pritz will serve on the selection committee and is not a candidate for the job. "This is a very professional staff," Pritz said. The assistant principals "have really stepped up, and they've done a really good job. Teachers have really stepped it up. Things have just flowed along." Dodge, 45, joined the Hernando district in 1979 as a fourth-grade teacher at Westside Elementary School. She earned $9,550 for the year. She has had an overall positive tenure, moving swiftly through the ranks from teacher to specialist to administrator. She was entered in the district's "new principal preparation program" in 1996, while an assistant principal, and took the top job at Springstead three years later. Her personnel file is dotted with positive letters from the community, and a generous recommendation from her former boss, J.D. Floyd Elementary principal Janet Yungmann-Barkalow. Dodge had just one reprimand in her file. Dated Oct. 19, 2001, the letter from then-assistant superintendent William Stratton said Dodge had failed to provide appropriate administrative supervision at the school homecoming dance. An attached letter from sheriff's Deputy Tommy F. Harris reported that two off-duty deputies were concerned about Dodge's appearance and behavior at the student dance, and further that "an alcoholic odor was detected on her presence." Dodge earned $69,814 as Springstead principal. -- Jeffrey S. Solochek covers education and politics in Hernando County. He can be reached at 754-6115. Send e-mail to solochek@sptimes.com
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