Pubdate: Thu, 13 Mar 2008
Source: Daily Californian, The (UC Berkeley, CA Edu)
Copyright: 2008 The Daily Californian
Contact:  http://www.dailycal.org/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/597
Author: Jacqueline Johnston

SCHOOL ADMINISTRATOR TO LEAVE POSITION

Middle School Vice Principal Decides to Resign Despite  Being Cleared
of Charges

Despite an investigation clearing charges that a  Willard Middle
School vice principal misused authority,  the vice principal has
decided to leave her position at  the end of the year.

Margaret Lowry resigned last week after being  investigated for
misconduct. The school board accepted  her resignation at its meeting
last night.

Although district officials would not comment on the  details of the
investigation because it involves  personnel issues that are
confidential, School Board  President John Selawsky said last week the
allegations  are the same as those appearing in a Feb. 19 article  for
the Berkeley Daily Planet.

The Planet's report said Lowry allegedly gave a student  money to buy
marijuana as part of a sting operation.

District officials said Lowry decided it would be best  to resign
despite being cleared of the allegations.

"She decided the best thing for her to get a fresh  start would be to
resign," district spokesperson Mark  Coplan said. "The ultimate
finding was that she was not  guilty of wrongdoing.

Human resources investigated the allegation, but when  they conducted
interviews with all the parties involved  the allegations did not hold
true."

The district opened the investigation into Lowry's  behavior after
hearing reports of the incident last  month.

"The principal heard reports about an incident that may  have taken
place and based his investigation on that,"  Coplan said.

The investigation centered around a single incident,  Coplan said.
Only students and teachers who were  "directly involved" were
questioned, he said.

During the investigation, Lowry was placed on  administrative leave.
After the investigation  concluded, Lowry was placed on special
assignment,  where she will remain until her resignation takes  effect
on June 30.

Lowry's job at the middle school has been filled  temporarily by Tom
Orput, vice principal of the  Berkeley Adult School. Orput held
Lowry's position  before taking the adult school vice principal position.

School board member Karen Hemphill said the matter as a  whole is
evidence that the district needs to increase  employee training in
areas of proper procedure and  sensitivity.

"I do believe that everything that has been raised by  the community
certainly pointed to the need for the  district (employees) to be more
aware of protocol and  cultural sensitivity," she said.
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MAP posted-by: Derek