Principal's speech belied reputation
She was known in Hernando County for setting high standards, demanding hard work.
By ABHI RAGHUNATHAN
Published June 15, 2005
SPRING HILL - Susan Duval earned respect as an educator in Hernando County the same way she inspired anger and frustration. She was tough, demanding and refused to play nice.
As an assistant principal at Springstead High School in 1989, Duval tried to ban from commencement a senior who was wearing a blue skirt instead of the recommended white. After becoming principal five years later, she canceled a homecoming pep rally because of rowdy behavior at another celebration.
When students threatened a walkout, sheriff's deputies were called to block them from leaving.
Administrators applauded: Her 1995 evaluation noted she had "the courage needed to take tough stands."
That stoic demeanor fostered Duval's reputation as one of the county's most rigid administrators. It also makes the recent news about her all the more stunning and ironic.
Duval, 58, a spokeswoman for high standards and hard work, is awaiting judgment from district officials after plagiarizing her speeches at Springstead's last two graduation ceremonies.
"There's got to be some kind of repercussion," said Joe Fortis, 54, who has a daughter at Springstead. "If you're holding students to these (high) standards, then you have to do the same for principals."
Last year, Duval cribbed a popular collection of sayings known as, "All I need to know I learned from Noah's Ark." This year, she read, almost word for word, the text of a famous 1997 Chicago Tribune column often called the "sunscreen" speech. Her actions attracted national attention through the Internet and stirred local controversy.
In a written apology, Duval has acknowledged making "unintentional errors" by not giving proper credit.
She did not respond to a request for comment this week, and has not explained why she introduced both speeches as her "personal thoughts."
"While I had absolutely no intent to convey that those quotes were mine, I understand that that impression could have been left and for that I (do) apologize," Duval wrote in a letter. "I have let myself, my family and ever(y) person I have ever worked with, down."
District officials suspended Duval with pay for one day last week. If superintendent Wendy Tellone decides to penalize her further, which she could do this week, it would tarnish a career in the county's public schools that has lasted more than three decades.
Since 1969, Duval has worked as an administrator at three high schools - including two stints as Springstead's principal - to mostly sterling reviews.
Her tenure at Springstead has put her most often in the public spotlight. In 1996, with no explanation, former superintendent John Sanders demoted her from principal to assistant principal. She stayed in the district for four more years, despite being rejected repeatedly for top administrative jobs.
After three years as an instructional assistant and a rural U.S. Postal Service letter carrier in Virginia, Duval returned to Hernando. In 2003, she was selected to turn Springstead around.
The school of more than 1,600 students was floundering, even though it offered Advanced Placement classes that attracted some of the county's brightest kids. Principal Dot Dodge had just retired after testing positive for using marijuana.
Enter Duval, a slight, bespectacled woman who wasted no time setting a new tone.
She expanded student enrollment in Advanced Placement classes by tossing out an elite academy within the school, even though the move angered students and parents. She pushed to get School Board approval for $11.2-million in renovations.
It paid off. This year, Springstead got a B grade from the state. It is the first time any of Hernando County's four high schools has scored higher than a C.
"The morale and community spirit within the school has greatly improved," said Clifford Wagner, the head of Springstead's science department. "The students take classes more seriously."
But will they still take their principal seriously?
Wagner said Duval's apology and "ensuing media attention" are punishment enough.
Nava Cohen, 17, who just graduated from Springstead and edited one of the school's student newspapers, said the principal she admires needs to be penalized, though she's not sure how severely.
"She is an excellent principal. . . . She is a role model for our school," Cohen said. "The students need to know that you can't have it where you (only) apologize and have it dealt with."
For now, Duval can do little but wait.
She has said that she found the "Noah's Ark" speech in "material" that someone gave her as she was preparing for the 2004 graduation ceremony. It is uncertain who first penned the "Noah's Ark" inspirational remarks; many Internet sites attribute them to an anonymous author.
Duval said she came across the "sunscreen" speech on the Internet, but couldn't find the name of its author.
Many Web pages note that Chicago Tribune columnist Mary Schmich wrote the speech. Her column was the basis for an Internet hoax involving the writer Kurt Vonnegut and a hit song.
Schmich recently wrote another column about graduation speeches after learning of Duval's plagiarism. She said she wasn't upset.
"Puzzled was a better word," Schmich wrote. "Puzzled that a school principal, or anybody else, would feel free to appropriate my work, or anybody else's.
"It wasn't just a sentence or two, the kind of thing that might be explained as coincidence or forgiven as sloppy error, but a fat slab o'text that she apparently lifted from the giant free grab bag called the Internet."
Abhi Raghunathan can be reached at araghunathan@sptimes.com or 352 848-1431.