Resident questions La Cañada High teacher’s private on-campus summer workshop
La Cañada High School in Oct. 2015.
A Foothills resident who offers tutoring services to area students has claimed a La Cañada High School English teacher is acting in violation of board policy by advertising and holding private summer workshop sessions on the public school campus.
Tujunga resident Bill Chitwood, a self-described freelance writer and language arts coach, told members of the La Cañada Unified School District Governing Board Tuesday he believes an AP English Language and Composition workshop being offered for a $325 fee by teacher Justin Valassidis at LCHS constitutes a conflict of interest.
Chitwood said a student presented him with a flier that had been distributed in Valassidis’ classroom and was reportedly posted there for months.
“The student who gave me this leaflet made it clear that parents and students believe ... expressing interest in this June workshop would possibly earn students a better grade for 10th honors English in spring as well as more favorable grading in 11th (grade) AP English next year,” Chitwood told the board. “That perception alone creates the pesky appearance of conflict of interest.”
Board members were unable to respond to Chitwood’s claims Tuesday, as he spoke in a public comment session during a regular meeting. The district’s board policy on tutoring indicates teachers in grades 7 through 12 cannot tutor students for a fee in a subject to which they are currently assigned.
Also, employees who choose to tutor must perform this service outside of school facilities and make their own arrangements with parents/guardians for fees to be charged, Board Policy 4137 states.
In an interview Wednesday, Valassidis said for the past five or six years he’s hosted the workshops as an independent contractor renting out classroom space from the district and does not consider them tutoring sessions.
He said when he began the summer program, which is completely separate from the for-credit summer courses offered at LCHS by the La Cañada Flintridge Educational Foundation, he reached out to then-Principal Jackie Luzak, LCUSD Supt. Wendy Sinnette and teaching colleagues to make sure there was no problem with it.
“I asked them what would be needed for me to make sure this would be done appropriately,” Valassidis recalled. “They kind of gave me the green light. (And) year after year, I’ve followed the same procedure.”
The intent of the workshops — held Monday through Friday in two sessions, so students can repeat or make up classes as needed — is to help prepare students for the rigor of AP coursework their junior and senior years, Valassidis said, although students in all grade levels have participated.
Students do not earn school credits for completing the courses, he clarified.
In his comments Tuesday, Chitwood claimed Valassidis had posted a flier on school grounds advertising the course as early as February, in violation of board policy regarding the advertising and solicitation of private services on a public school campus.
To that, Valassidis said he keeps copies of the fliers available for interested students, colleagues and counselors and does not post them on school property. He did admit, however, to telling students about the workshop in class.
Responding to Board Policy language directly, the teacher said he doesn’t consider his workshops “tutoring” because there is little to no one-on-one work among the groups, which can comprise up to 25 students. Valassidis said he was hurt to learn of Chitwood’s accusations and comments questioning his integrity and would stop immediately if he was found in violation of school district policy.
“That’s the last thing I want,” he said. “I’m a teacher — I just want to help kids.”
In an email interview Wednesday, Supt. Sinnette said the sessions offered by Valassidis were not considered by the district to be tutoring.
“Our view is that his summer work is not in violation of the district’s [board policies or administrative regulations],” Sinnette said, calling Valassidis a “private entity” in that capacity. “However, given the concern raised, the district administration will perform due diligence and review the relevant board policy and administrative regulation as well as our past and current practices.”
Any recommended changes to the language of the regulations, the superintendent added, would go through the normal board procedure and would not take effect until after the start of the 2016-17 school year.
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Sara Cardine, sara.cardine@latimes.com
Twitter: @SaraCardine
