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Controversy swirls around Cheltenham school superintendent

When Cheltenham recruited Natalie Thomas to take over its troubled school district 17 months ago as its $180,000-a-year superintendent, she was hailed as a veteran problem-solver.

Natalie Thomas has faced rising criticism in her 17 months.
Natalie Thomas has faced rising criticism in her 17 months.Read more

When Cheltenham recruited Natalie Thomas to take over its troubled school district 17 months ago as its $180,000-a-year superintendent, she was hailed as a veteran problem-solver.

The school board approved her with only one dissenting vote, but since she arrived, says a growing legion of critics, she has done little more than create problems.

From the get-go, former school board member Marc Lieberson - the only one to vote against her appointment - said he was troubled by vagueness about her accomplishments in a St. Louis-area school district that she had twice sued, according to court records.

"I felt that I wasn't getting the full story, as far as her educational philosophy," recalled Lieberson. "I couldn't put my finger on it."

Today, he believes, "my gut feeling was right."

Since the 57-year-old Thomas' arrival, a school system already grappling with declining student achievement has been dragged into disputes pitting Thomas against the teachers' union, departing administrators, protesting students, and angry parents.

Last year, Thomas won praise for her handling of a mold crisis at Cedarbrook Middle School. But now complaints about the superintendent - from the part-time job she gave a friend to being sued by a neighbor whose kitten was mauled by a dog - have become the talk of Cheltenham.

"She seems to have a need . . . to create chaos so she's the problem-solver," said Doris Galante, Cheltenham's former director of special education who retired in April after butting heads with Thomas.

Thomas, who began her career as a social worker in St. Louis before deciding she could make more of a difference in the classroom, was philosophical about the criticism. "Sometimes we grow the most from different perspectives," she said.

She said a run of recent staff departures was nothing out of the ordinary as people retire or get better jobs, and some were in the works before she arrived. But she also said she's listening to the chorus of complaints.

"I've been an educator for going on 30 years, and one of the things I've always found to be helpful is listening to feedback - even feedback that's not easy to hear," Thomas said.

In response to an October letter by 25 former school board members, teachers, and parents saying Cheltenham is in "dire straits" and teachers are fearful of the leadership, the school board began a series of meetings last week to focus on "effective communication processes."

Criticism of Thomas escalated after the reassignment and swift exit of high school principal Andrew Kuhn, a hazing scandal on the boys' varsity soccer team, and a boisterous sit-in by high school students in which administrators quickly gave in to demands such as wearing headphones in the hallways.

Besides Galante and Kuhn, who took a $25,000-a-year pay cut at another district, departures have included the assistant superintendent, business manager, two elementary principals, an assistant high school principal, transportation supervisor, and soccer and baseball coaches.

Cheltenham, on the Philadelphia border, is in transition, with minority students, many from families that moved from the city, now making up just over half of district enrollment. The Pennsylvania school performance profile for Cheltenham High School dropped this year to 74 on a 100-point scale (the state considers 70 adequate) and is one of the lowest in Montgomery County.

But the focus shifted to Thomas' administrative style in June with temporary reassignment of Kuhn to a desk job at district headquarters.

Joe Kircher, former principal of Elkins Park School and an interim superintendent, said the loss of Kuhn "set the tone" among teachers who are worried that anyone could be replaced.

"From what I'm hearing . . . there's this tone of fear and mistrust," said Kircher, who signed the letter to the school board last month.

"Nothing is totally transparent, but I think people feel she's come in and made an inordinate number of changes in staffing and personnel while she's still getting to know the district and the community," said a veteran school administrator familiar with the district, who asked not to be named. He said teachers are "looking over their shoulder."

Meanwhile, the Cheltenham Education Association recently filed an unfair labor practices complaint with the Pennsylvania Labor Relations Board over a suspension, transfer, and unsatisfactory evaluation of its president, Jack Kelly. The union alleged that the move was retaliation for his union activities, and that three other union teachers were punished for not supporting the district's allegations against Kelly.

Others think she has been unfairly maligned.

"She came into a really bad situation," said Lynn Geller, a former Cheltenham teacher who stays in touch with the district. "It's almost like a sinkhole opening up around her and she's doing her best."

The growing uproar in Cheltenham is not the first time Thomas has drawn controversy. In Missouri, she twice filed lawsuits against her former district, Riverview Gardens. In 2006, she alleged that she was demoted after refusing to contribute to a school board member's political campaign. Her complaint was dismissed, according to court records. And in 2011 she filed a federal racial discrimination lawsuit against Riverview, alleging she had not been paid for 40 accumulated sick days, about $18,000, because she is white. The suit was settled a year later.

Amid the turmoil, Thomas has defended decisions to give district work to a couple of friends or associates. One is a former Missouri associate whom she introduces as her "godmother."

The friend, Christine Long, is a literacy instructor who worked in the CLASP before-and-after-school program for 2 1/2 months in 2013.

"She was a temporary sub ... as a courtesy," Thomas said. "It was never a plan for her to do anything beyond that stopgap."

Thomas also this year hired a former superintendent from Missouri, Linda Henke, as a personal coach at a cost of $5,000. She said Henke worked in a district very much like Cheltenham and would provide "modeling" for her.

Some also wonder why she has paid a public relations consultant, Steph Rosenfeld of Identity Advisors in Jenkintown, more than $26,000 to help with communications when the district has its own $119,000-a-year communications director.

Cheltenham, Thomas said, values "high-quality communications."

But retired administrator Ann Spector said most of her communications with teachers these days involves merely writing letters of recommendation.

Cheltenham was "a wonderful, thriving community of people who loved and respected each other," she said. "This is a unique place . . . and it doesn't sound like it anymore."

Correction:

Natalie Thomas' friend, who was hired for the CLASP program for 2 1/2 months, is named Christine Long, not Christine Love.

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@kathyboccella