Comments on: Mt. Diablo district principal and administrator playbill

By: tharrington

tharrington — Wed, 10 Nov 2010 02:33:56 +0000

Are you referring to Christopher Nugent? He withdrew his name, as mentioned in above posts.
The new principal is Irene Keenan: http://www.mdusd.k12.ca.us/mountdiabloelementary/PrincipalsMessage.htm

By: Fernando Alonso

Fernando Alonso — Tue, 09 Nov 2010 06:29:39 +0000

Teresa,
I don’t know if you read Claycord.com, but if you do you have read the reaction to the new principal for Mt. Diablo Elementary. People have googles him and he has quite a history that should be looked into. I as a parent and teacher am very concerned with this. I’m upset that the district did not vet this guy. What is upsetting is that the issues he has had directly relate to his job in many ways. Also I’m not sure he was at his old position for very ling in Elk Grove, Ca. I think this needs some looking into.
P

By: Doctor J

Doctor J — Thu, 08 Jul 2010 14:30:46 +0000

I suspect they may have paid Nugent to “withdraw” his application — MDUSD lawyer was involved and all lawyers want a waiver of claims, which needs money to be paid. They will attempt to hide it as a personnel matter, but I think there is a reasonably good chance that happened. I also bet they put in a confidentiality clause so no one will talk about it.

By: Realia

Realia — Thu, 08 Jul 2010 01:27:08 +0000

Am I the only one noticing that many of the “new hires” by the district are simply district personnel whose positions or departments were cut? Some are baffling, like Melinda Hall, who has exactly what for qualifications to head Personnel? The district protects its own – as long as they are administrators and not teachers.

By: tharrington

tharrington — Wed, 07 Jul 2010 00:52:27 +0000

I have been told that an official statement regarding this issue will be released soon.
After I receive it, I’ll update my story, which is online now at http://www.contracostatimes.com/education/ci_15451000?nclick_check=1tracostatimes.com/education/ci_15451000?nclick_check=1.

By: Peg Powell

Peg Powell — Tue, 06 Jul 2010 22:50:40 +0000

Why did you think they paid him to resign? Have you heard something else? I haven’t seen anything official on the resignation yet?

By: Doctor J

Doctor J — Tue, 06 Jul 2010 17:13:19 +0000

Did they really pay Nugent to resign ? I sure hope not. But nothing would surprise me now.

By: tharrington

tharrington — Sun, 04 Jul 2010 01:36:28 +0000

I’ve left messages with the superintendent, Gary Eberhart, Paul Strange and Linda Mayo regarding this.
I spoke to trustee Sherry Whitmarsh and she said she’s on vacation and hasn’t been reading the blogs.
Like Allen, she said she didn’t receive the names of the candidates until the meeting. She didn’t receive their resumes either.
In the future, Whitmarsh said she would like to receive candidates’ resumes ahead of time, so she could read over their qualifications before appointing them.
How much oversight do you think the board should have over principal and other administrative appointments?

By: tharrington

tharrington — Sun, 04 Jul 2010 00:05:33 +0000

Yes, I am aware of the allegations. I just spoke to trustee Dick Allen and he said he found out about the allegations when someone e-mailed him a message about the blog. He said he wasn’t provided the names of the candidates or their resumes before the board meeting, so he doesn’t know if Nugent is the same man. He plans to follow up with the superintendent and Braun-Martin on Tuesday.
Allen said he is wondering what kind of background checks are done on candidates. In the future, he wants to receive resumes well ahead of board meetings, so he can research candidates himself, he said.
Here’s what I posted yesterday, in response to another question regarding this:
I was at the board meeting and agree that newly appointed Mt. Diablo Elementary Principal Christopher Nugent resembles the man named Christopher Nugent alleged to have violated the law while working for the Williamson County School District in Tennessee as an assessment specialist in 2007-08. Here is a link regarding that Christopher Nugent’s security breach involving students’ social security numbers: http://www.wkrn.com/Global/story.asp?S=8656193.
At Thursday’s school board meeting, Superintendent Steven Lawrence said Nugent has experience from Tennessee, as well as California. Lawrence said Nugent has worked as an elementary principal, a middle school administrator and was currently a “co-administrator” of a large elementary school in Elk Grove.
Through Google, I’ve found that Christopher Nugent was a principal at Crockett Elementary in Brentwood, TN; principal at Palm Desert Middle School in CA and vice principal at the Elk Grove school. According to the news link above, the Nugent who committed the security breach was the former principal of Crockett Elementary.

By: P C

P C — Sat, 03 Jul 2010 23:12:45 +0000