Hopwood teachers: Disclose contents of investigation

Signatories petitioning for the ouster of Hopwood Junior High School Principal Lourdes Mendiola recently rebuked investigation findings that “miscommunication” was the root cause of conflicts surrounding Saipan’s lone junior high.

In a three part position paper, HJHS staff and teachers aired anew their sentiments on the April 19 mediation meeting after the legal counsel disclosed it cannot reveal actual contents of the investigation.

“We are simply requesting that the findings of the legal counsel be revealed and a decision be made regarding replacing Mrs. Mendiola as Principal of HJHS,” the petitioners said.

HJHS teachers and staff specifically pointed out that reports on certain assault incidents were relayed to the Mrs. Mendiola only to have those reports dismissed.

“All three specific assaults mentioned in the petition requesting Mrs. Mendiola’s removal from the principalship were communicated to the principal and later to the PSS legal counsel and the press,” the petitioners added.

Nearly two months since they filed the petition, teachers and staff are still faced with potential threats of campus assaults and violence, noting there has been no implementation of any appropriate discipline program at the school.

Petitioners also blame the existing Hopwood controversy for the Western Association of Schools and Colleges’s (WASC) failure to grant the school a six-year accreditation.

According to staff and teachers, WASC made it clear that what was transpiring at Hopwood was unacceptable of a learning institution supposed to be in the business of nurturing young minds.

The WASC team reported that highest priority at Hopwood is for school leadership to communicate and collaborate with a wider range of stake holders. Petitioners claim this has yet to happen.

“The teachers and staff of HJHS are asking that the findings of the investigation into allegations of misconduct by Principal Mendiola be released.

“We have been pleading for a decision to be made based on facts and we have been adamant in stating that the administration at Hopwood is not providing safe environment for students to learn or the employees to educate,” petitioners stated.

Deputy Commissioner for Administration Louise Concepcion yesterday said she has yet to receive a copy of the report.

She added that she will make a decision after she’s had ample time to study the said report.

The following are some of the petitioners’ allegations leveled against the embattled Hopwood principal:

• When a sexual assault occurred in a classroom on campus, Mrs. Mendiola not only tried to cover up any report of the incident, but the administration went so far as to punish the victim for her choice of attire.

• After a student verbally assaulted a teacher (an assault which included racial slurs, lewd sexual remarks, and a further threat of retribution to that teacher’s family), Mrs. Mendiola sent the student back to the respective teachers class the same day without any disciplinary action taken

• In completing the WASC report, Mrs. Mendiola falsified information to remove the “discipline” from the leading list of concerns, although every focus team placed discipline as either the main or secondary concern behind “reading”

• Compensation for paternity leave has been denied to a member of the faculty while being granted to other members in precisely the same position.