District replaces Iditarod elementary principal

PALMER — On the eve of school opening, the Matanuska-Susitna School District has replaced the principal of Iditarod Elementary.

Ray Marshall, who’d been principal at the school for two years, was removed and, in his place, the district appointed John Simon, formerly a teacher at Cottonwood Creek Elementary.

“He has trained many of our teachers and done presentations to schools on the Promethium Board technology primarily,” school district spokeswoman Catherine Esary said of Simon. “He’s kind of been a mentor for a lot of teachers.”

Esary said Simon has been on something of a principal-track at the district for a while now, working toward becoming a principal.

Asked if she could get into why Marshall was removed, Esary said, “No, I really can’t. That is obviously a personnel matter so obviously I can’t.”

But a mother of one of Iditarod’s students says she knows why. She said school district Superintendent George Troxel laid out the reasons at a meeting she attended Tuesday.

“He had to take some classes and he took some classes and he forgot to do his paperwork and get his certificate renewed,” said Amy Neuharth, whose daughter is in the first grade at Iditarod.

Neuharth said that the way the situation was explained to her, principals need certification and without that certification Marshall couldn’t be principal.

According to a state teaching certification database, Marshall’s administrative certification expired in June of this year and his teaching certification in June of 2000.

Neuharth said she and other parents at the school want Marshall back.

“He has made a mistake, which we totally understand, he’s in the wrong, but we just want him to be given a second chance,” she said.

She said Iditarod has a high rate of student turnover. Marshall came in and, despite that, managed to raise test scores six points in math and 15 points in reading.

“The test scores at our school went straight up and the morale of our teachers increased,” she said. “We want the district to look at the overall picture, not just one little part of the picture.”

And the timing, she said, is terrible. School is starting Monday. Parents are clamoring for district boundary waivers. Teachers are prepping their classrooms. The school’s enrollment numbers have changed over last year. There are staffing decisions to be made.

And now, all of a sudden, the school has a new person in charge.

She said she’s also concerned about what Marshall will have to do now. She knows he’s got kids starting school. Will they have to move? They shouldn’t have to, she said.

“He’s a proven leader and he’s done phenomenal things for our school,” Neuharth said. “We have a great community going and it’s totally been disrupted.”

Esary said Simon’s appointment is only temporary. Soon the district will start looking for a permanent principal — soliciting applications and conducting interviews.

“I’m not sure how long Mr. Simon will be as interim principal,” she said. “For right now, Mr. Troxel has just announced that he was re-assigned as interim principal for the 2009 school year.”

Contact Andrew Wellner at andrew.wellner@frontiersman.com or 352-2270.