GILROY
– Less than 12 hours after telling trustees they had a moral
obligation to scrutinize Gilroy Unified School District’s firing
practices, a 10-year veteran English teacher was terminated and
escorted by security from her Gilroy High School classroom
Friday.
Kristen Porter, a second-year GHS teacher, criticized the Board
of Education at Thursday night’s meeting. Friday morning, before
Porter’s first period class, Principal Bob Bravo and GUSD Assistant
Superintendent Linda Piceno fired her, took her classroom key and
called campus security to escort the distraught teacher to her
car.
By LORI STUENKEL and ERIC LEINS
Staff Writers
GILROY – Less than 12 hours after telling trustees they had a moral obligation to scrutinize Gilroy Unified School District’s firing practices, a 10-year veteran English teacher was terminated and escorted by security from her Gilroy High School classroom Friday.
Kristen Porter, a second-year GHS teacher, criticized the Board of Education at Thursday night’s meeting. Friday morning, before Porter’s first period class, Principal Bob Bravo and GUSD Assistant Superintendent Linda Piceno fired her, took her classroom key and called campus security to escort the distraught teacher to her car.
“I felt like it was the Gestapo. I felt like I was being treated like a criminal,” Porter said. “I’m being fired because I spoke the truth, because I practiced my free speech rights. It’s scary.”
After she was fired, an emotional Porter sat in her car trying to gather her thoughts. Assistant Principal Mani Corzo told the Hollister resident and former Fremont school teacher that if she didn’t leave, he would call the police.
“I wasn’t safe to drive. I just wanted a minute to clear my head, but he told me I had to leave,” Porter said. “I wasn’t even allowed to say good-bye to anybody.”
By the end of the day Friday, Porter was pursuing legal representation, and district officials were rejecting claims they acted maliciously against their teacher.
“We wanted to minimize any public display. We wanted to preserve her dignity as much as we could,” said Piceno regarding the early morning firing and the demand that Porter leave campus immediately.
The district also said it tried to ensure their teacher’s well-being Friday by giving a GHS teacher – and friend of Porter’s – the day off to help settle her colleague.
District officials also claim the firing was not a knee-jerk reaction to the teachers’ comments in front of the board Thursday.
Due to privacy restrictions, GUSD Superintendent Edwin Diaz would not specify the district’s reasons for firing Porter Friday. However, Diaz said it was due to “inappropriate behavior” that took place inside the classroom before Thursday’s board meeting and after Porter was told she would not be asked back next school year.
The decision to let her go was made prior to the board meeting, said Diaz, who would not specify what constituted inappropriate behavior.
“All I can really say is that I’d classify it as highly unprofessional,” he said.
After the alleged behavior became known to GHS and district administrators, Diaz and the GUSD human resources department recommended Porter be fired immediately instead of let go at the end of the year.
Teachers hired on a temporary basis like Porter cannot be fired after they complete 75 percent of their contract. So firing Porter Friday was timely for the district because the 75 percent mark was fast-approaching.
Porter is one of four GHS English teachers the district told it would let go at the end of the school year because she was “not a good match.” Porter was the only teacher of that group to speak up for herself in newspaper articles and now in front of the board.
Porter pressed the board Thursday for reasons why she was fired.
“What I want to know is exactly what aspects of my teaching methods, policies or attitudes conflicts with those of Gilroy High School,” Porter said. “Teachers need to be told before they are fired what a good match is and how to improve.”
Ironically, Porter was hired to replace GHS English teacher Kim Lemos, who also was fired last year for not being a good match. Before she was let go, Lemos raised many of the issues Porter is now raising.
Porter also asked whether her firing was part of a larger effort to keep less experienced teachers who are willing to give good grades.
“Why are the experienced teachers being let go and new, non-credentialed teachers are preferred?” Porter asked.
“The school board needs to live up to its accountability, closely (examine) the district’s hiring and firing policy and demand good reasons quality teachers are being let go,” she said.
Trustees, who unanimously fired the teacher in a closed session after the meeting Thursday, listened as Porter spoke but showed little reaction. Board President Jaime Rosso offered a polite “thank you” before welcoming the next public speaker, one of Porter’s students who came to speak in her defense.
Porter, now distraught over her immediate firing, is still confused by the decision to let her go before next school year. Porter said she received high marks for innovation and student participation in classroom observations this school year. In January, she says Assistant Principal Joni Madolora told her, “We want you back next year.”
Porter claims her attempts to get a copy of a December classroom observation have been denied.
As Madolora left Porter’s classroom following a February observation, Porter says she got a “thumbs up” only to later find out she was marked down for students sleeping in class. Porter was unaware of sleeping students.
Although Madolora and Bravo initially told Porter her release had little to do with what happened inside her classroom, Porters says she is now being told the February review was a factor. She was also told that her frustration at a lack of students’ motivation may have been a factor.
“What public school teacher doesn’t express frustration at the lack of motivation in their students?” she said.
In response to Porter’s request for a review of hiring and firing policies, trustees said there is little need for board oversight.
“I feel very comfortable with our administrative team managing the district and providing to the board the information we need to make decisions, including the one we made last night,” Trustee Bob Kraemer said.
“Each spring, we’re trying to get the most qualified teachers we can, and we want the best possible teachers we can get in Gilroy,” Jim Rogers said.
The issue once again raises questions about whether GUSD culture allows for vocal, open debate.
The GHS English department came under fire last fall during a review of its core reading list. Some teachers and parents said a split in the department left traditional teachers, promoting academics, afraid to speak in opposition to more progressive teachers, promoting social change.
Last April, Trustee David McRae experienced some backlash from teachers and trustees after writing a strong-worded letter to the editor of The Dispatch regarding insufficient e-mail usage by teachers. He subsequently wrote a letter of apology, saying his first letter was offensive.
“People are going to interpret this any way they want, but there are plenty of district employees who have spoken up and received no retribution,” Diaz said.
Porter, who described herself as a traditional teacher aligned with the district’s most vocal parents group, Alliance for Academic Excellence, is now left weighing her options.
She has contacted Mark Rose, her union representative, who said there would be legal action. He did not give specifics.
“We’re looking at all the legal options right now, and we are mapping out exactly what will be best for (Porter) in order to protect the voice of all teachers of this district,” said Rose, president of the Gilroy Federation of Teachers. “And it’s quite clear by the district’s actions that what (Porter) was saying was true.”
The union has hired an attorney to work on Porter’s behalf.
“We hired him especially because of the treatment of Kristen Porter this morning and the police escorts,” Rose said.
Porter said her worries now center around her former students.
“The thing that concerns me most is the kids had a good teacher. Now they’re getting a sub for the rest of the year,” Porter said. “I’m mostly just in shock and disgust with the Gestapo tactics.”
