Embattled Concord Principal Led Staff Remotely While On Leave

CONCORD, NH — For more than three months after taking a voluntary leave of absence from his role leading Concord High School, Tom Sica was allowed by the Concord School District to essentially lead the school remotely, with specific parameters, according to an agreement with School Superintendent Terri Forsten. Sica's role leading the school from elsewhere, including other SAU 8 buildings, was revealed Friday in a report in the Concord Monitor. Numerous emails obtained as part of the report suggest that despite the public and press being told Sica would be on leave, and most people perceiving that being "on leave" meant he was not involved with anything in the school or district, he was allowed to work on projects and play a role in running the day-to-day operations at the school.

Sica stopped his remote work just before he was placed on administrative leave by the Concord Board of Education – after members began reading the results of its internal investigation into why Primo "Howie" Leung, a special education teacher with multiple inappropriate allegations against him, was allowed to stay on as a teacher as well as the suspension of Ana Goble by Sica. Goble, a Rundlett Middle School student, was suspended after raising concerns about Leung in 2014.

A number of rumors about Sica having some sort of a role in the 2019-2020 school year were active for a good part of the summer as the district and board tried to navigate, often poorly, its communications to a restless, concerned, and often furious public, in the wake of the Leung arrest and ensuing revelations connected to the case, such as the Goble suspension and the lack of credentialing with some district staffers.

Two Concord High staffers told Patch in August and September that Sica was still in contact with administrators at the school and working to ensure a smooth first day of school remotely – statements there were unable to be confirmed but logical to anyone who has ever worked on a vacation day or a school administrator who expected to return to their position, at some point. Two parents also reported high school staffers told them Sica would be returning by the first day of the school year. A third parent reported to Patch that some students were being told on Sept. 20 that Sica would not be returning to school.

At the time, Forsten denied the rumors and said Sica "remains on paid leave from the district." A week later, both Forsten and Sica were placed paid administrative leave.

Steve Rothenberg, an assistant principal and career technical director at the high school, was present for the meeting between between Sica and Forsten in mid-June, as they ironed out what would be his voluntarily leave.

Rothenberg, who has known and worked with Sica for years, has been acting as his representative as a member of the Concord Administrators' Association. Sica, Rothenberg said, was told to work away from the high school, avoid any issues relating to student discipline, and avoid the internal investigation, as part of the voluntary leave agreement.

With the guidelines in place of how Sica would assist the high school in a limited capacity, Rothenberg memoed about 10 employees at the school, curriculum facilitators and other administrators, about the limited role. He said, at the time, no one in leadership at the high school knew what a voluntarily personal leave meant when eyeing their own responsibilities at the school as well as the upcoming new school year. Rothenberg added he was attempting to create an environment of stability in a volatile time.

"All the recipients of this group regularly meet with the principal and we anticipated that they were anxious to know how to 'do business' in the coming stretch," he said in an email. "I felt it was important to let this small team of teacher leaders know that Mr. Sica was active, albeit in a limited capacity. Thus, the purpose of the email message was to be proactive, let them know what was going on, and ultimately to help guide them to do their jobs effectively."

Some School Board Members Shocked By Revelation

While some school board members appeared to have some of the details of the arrangement between Sica and Forsten, others were not in the know – something that is becoming a regular thing as more and more is revealed about the inner workers of the district they are supposed to be advising.

School Board President Jennifer Patterson was asked by the Monitor if the public had been misled by statements that Sica was on leave – something that any normal person would believe to be not working or involved with the district. Patterson, speaking for other board members, didn't really answer the question. She said Forsten had limited Sica's duties to "specific school projects" and he was not present at the high school overseeing daily operations during the summer. Sica, Patterson added, "has not participated in school matters since being place on administrative leave by the board" late last month.

At the same time, even with those parameters, Sica was still often overseeing the jobs of many of the same people who would be questioned as part of an investigation of his and the district's mishandling of the Leung case and Gobel suspension, something not known to the public at the time and that certainly wouldn't be allowed in such a sensitive and volatile case as a teacher-student rape investigation.

District A Board Member Tom Croteau called the report "extremely disappointing and upsetting" since he was of the impression that Sica would only be conducting some planning activities off campus and would be relinquishing day-to-day duties at the school.

"Frankly, I was shocked to read many of the pieces attributed to emails that have to do with Mr. Sica," he said. "I understood from the beginning that Mr. Sica’s leave of absence was to be just that, a leave. I was never under the impression that Mr. Sica was conducting day to day decision making at Concord High School."

Croteau said he wanted residents to know that board members were listening to their concerns as the board works "as hard as we can to complete the investigation and implement needed changes for the safety and well-being of our students and staff."

Chuck Crush, a District C school board member, said he had "no knowledge that (Sica) was in direct contact with staff or in any school buildings in the district."

He added, "I figured Superintendent Forsten was managing the situation."

Barbara Higgins, an at-large board member, said she also had no idea Sica was involved at Concord High School at all until late August and was also surprised by the level of detail of his involvement remotely.

Jim Richards, one of two District A board members, who is up for reelection in less than two weeks, also said he didn't know Sica had direct contact with staff the school.

"I was told that while on voluntary leave," he said, "Tom Sica was not involved in the administration of the high school, and until placed on leave by the board, he was working on special projects under the direction of Superintendent Forsten."

Danielle Smith, another at-large board member, said she was under the impression Sica was working on certain administrative projects away from the school until the date that the board voted to place him on administrative leave.

"It was explained in a meeting to the board that it was customary to have employees still doing work for the district in limited capacity when placed on paid leave (an example given was that if a teacher was on paid leave they would do grading and work on lesson plans)," replied Pam Wicks, a District C member also up for re-election in November. "My understanding of the leave of absence was that he would be working on 'special projects.' It was also my understanding that there was to be no contact with staff or students and that all work would be done remotely."

District B member Liza Poinier did not respond to an email.

School Board Candidates: 'Shocked, Disappointed, Appalled'

Three of the four school board candidates hoping to be elected in November responded with varying levels of surprise by the report.

Gina Cannon, who is running for the District C seat, said she was "shocked and appalled" that the community appeared to be blatantly misled regarding Sica's leave.

"Board members have a responsibility to be honest with their constituents," she said. "I am deeply saddened that certain board members were anything but. This is simply further proof that the board composition needs a drastic change."

Patrice Myers, a candidate for the District A seat, agreed.

"It's a very common tactic for deception to tell the technical truth and let others come to their own conclusion, which is manipulated to be incorrect," she said. "Because you come to an innocuous conclusion, they know you are going to come to that conclusion, because they have manipulated it. All the while, it's misleading, pretty much."

Max Schultz, one of two candidates vying for the open District B seat, was also "shocked and disappointed" by how the investigation is being handled.

"It is disingenuous to say that an employee is on leave pending investigation when they are in fact not on leave but still exercising their supervisory role remotely," he said. "The public will now question the integrity of the investigation. There is good reason to question the investigation because the people being interviewed as part of the investigation work for Tom Sica and some are students under his authority and control which he was clearly still exercising from other schools in the district."

Schultz also wondered how students and employees would feel free to answer questions about possible misconduct of the principal when he is still clearly in charge but working out of other schools.

"They should have removed his access to buildings, computer systems, and phones until the investigation concluded," Schultz added. "That is standard practice for something like this. I am now wondering where Terri Forsten is at and what she has access to. Who made these decisions? I would like an answer to that question. If I'm elected, I plan to find out who is making these decisions and work to get this situation handled properly with better and more accurate communication."

Dave Parker, another District B candidate, did not respond to an email before post time.

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• Credentialing Of Concord's Acting School Super Could Take Months
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• Acting Concord School Superintendent Not Credentialed With NH DOE
• Concord Superintendent Forsten, Principal Sica Placed On Leave
• Concord Board Of Education Considering Personnel 'Next Steps'
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• Parents, Students Vent About Issues With Concord School District
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