Parents Mixed Over Decision to Place Principal on Leave

With two weeks of school remaining, the Milpitas Unified School District has placed Sinnott Elementary Principal Stacey Espino on administrative leave as of June 1.

Some parents were still learning news of Espino's leave on Monday morning.

Interim Principal Michelle Dusel, the district's adult school principal for the Elmwood jail program and former principal of Sinnott for nine years, sent out an automated message to parents on the same day Espino's leave went into effect.

A number of parents whose children attend Sinnott said the action was not necessary.

"I feel like it's a personal issue and has nothing to do with school," Martha Rodriguez said, as she dropped off her kids Monday morning. "She's a good principal, so for me I don't think it's right."

Norm Ngim said he didn't think it was necessary to place Espino on leave with only two weeks left of school.

"But I suppose the MUSD felt it was necessary to punish her in some way," he said. "Things were pretty much back to normal until the emergency school board meeting and Mrs. Espino's suspension reopened these wounds. I'd like to see her back next school year."

"It's a free country," countered parent Swati Shah. "As a principal, she is doing wonderful job. What happened is her personal matter.  Nobody has the right to interfere."

Whatever happened has to do with the principal's own personal life, said Cary Mandolado. "It didn't have anything to do with our children's education."

There was no official word on why the principal was put on administrative leave, but many believe it has to do with allegations of an affair with the superintendent.

Tina Taylor, a parent who volunteered on the district's CBAC committee, said about working with Superintendent Karl Black and Principal Espino, "They were nothing but professional."

The school's performance is not being questioned. Sinnott Elementary has the  among other elementary schools in the district, with a score of 890, followed by Curtner at 885.

Some parents had no beef with the decision made by the district.

"They know what's best for the school," said Annie Rauf. "If there is a policy for that, then they did the right thing."

The action taken was "fair," said Cherrie Kasik. "She was, in my opinion, a good principal. She made a mistake."

Kasik's daughter, a first-grader, is too young to understand, but it could be worse for families with older students, she said.

Jay Wong, whose daughter is in fifth grade, said kids are avid listeners who pick up on conversations among parents. He grew up "old-fashioned" and had not dealt with a situation like this before, he said.

His daughter's teacher had told her class that Espino was gone, and "Some of the kids asked whether she'll be back next year," he said.

Interim Superintendent Barbara Young said the duration of Espino's administrative leave will depend on how long the investigation takes but would not comment further on the personnel matter.

She confirmed that she had informed the school board of the action during the closed session of the May 31 special meeting, in which the board  to be placed on his permanent record.

"I hope everything works out for her," said parent Ruth Arceo, who said it was a personal issue—"as long as she's doing her job and that's not affecting her and she's not getting special treatment because of it."

Arceo and other parents said they would be concerned if Espino, who started as a teacher then served as assistant principal at several schools in the district, was promoted to principal as a result of special treatment.

Wong said an issue of greater concern to him was one involving security following an as she walked to Rancho Middle School. Also, he said, his daughter's math teacher had gotten called for jury duty and had missed lessons leading up to STAR testing.

"There are plenty of people in the pool that can be jurors," he said, "but not a lot of people who can prepare [students] for the test."

These issues were more important to him than the principal placed on leave, he said.