Camden School District sued by 4 former administrators
Four administrators who worked in Camden schools have sued the district, alleging that they were forced to leave their jobs under false pretenses.
Four administrators who worked in Camden schools have sued the district, alleging that they were forced to leave their jobs under false pretenses.
The suit, filed last week in U.S. District Court in Camden, contends that poor performance evaluations led a principal and three vice principals to resign due to fear that the evaluations would prompt tenure charges against them. Tenure charges, which can be triggered by negative job reviews, can result in dismissal or other penalties.
The filing states that the evaluations are invalid because Angela Gilbert, the district evaluator responsible for the performance reviews, did not have the proper certification under state law.
Brendan Lowe, a spokesman for the state-run district, said Gilbert worked there from October 2013 to June 2014 but declined to comment further.
"The district intends on moving to dismiss the suit," he said.
The suit was filed by Jessie Denkins of New Castle, Del., a vice principal who worked for the district for 27 years before leaving in December 2014; Cheryl Shelton of Williamstown, a vice principal who worked in the district for almost 24 years; Emma Waring of Cherry Hill, a vice principal who worked in Camden schools for almost 27 years; and Maxine Campbell, a former principal with 38 years of experience in the district. They earned annual salaries of $99,000 to $130,500.
Denkins was a vice principal at Wiggins College Preparatory Lab School, and Waring was a vice principal at Veterans Memorial Middle School. Campbell was principal of Yorkship Family School, and Shelton was vice principal at Yorkship.
The complaint, which seeks unspecified damages, states that the educators were assessed in the 2013-14 school year by Gilbert, who was hired after the 2013 state takeover of the city's schools. She rated them as less than satisfactory, according to the suit, even though she did not have the state licenses and certificates required by law to perform the reviews.
The suit states that district officials and Gilbert "sought to conceal that she lacked the educational certificates to observe and evaluate the plaintiffs," noting that she has misrepresented her certifications in a separate tenure-related matter.
856-779-3876 @AESteele