Parents Demand Board Reinstate Ousted Principal

About 100 parents crowded into the Pomona Unified School Board meeting Tuesday to demand the reinstatement of Jack Housen as principal of Lorbeer Junior High School in Diamond Bar.

Carrying placards that said “Housen Must Stay” and “The Board Must Go,” parent after parent told the board that Housen had brought discipline, improved academics and created a safe environment where children could learn.

Board President Brenda Engdahl threatened several times to halt the meeting and remove the rambunctious crowd. The board took no action on a replacement for Housen, although it did approve new principals for several other schools.

Parents backing Housen threatened to vote board members out of office in the fall, saying the board had arrogantly disregarded the wishes of the community in reassigning Housen to the classroom after 25 years as a Pomona administrator.

“If you really cared about education, you wouldn’t have taken this action,” parent Claudia Thompson told the board. “You laugh in our face by demoting him. He’s an excellent principal. What team should he be on if not the team of our children?”

In March, the board voted unanimously to transfer Housen beginning next fall, despite evaluations that showed consistently high marks in academics and management of Lorbeer. District Supt. Irv Moscowitz explained that Housen was not a “team player.” But he and other school officials refused to elaborate, citing privacy laws.

Housen said Tuesday that he plans to formally appeal, or ask the board to reconsider, the transfer, which will mean a $20,000 pay cut. Meanwhile, Lorbeer Assistant Principal Lucretia Peebles, a supporter of Housen, said she will leave the district to become principal of Chaparral Middle School in Moorpark.

When Housen was reassigned, Peebles, who has a doctorate in education from the Claremont Graduate School with expertise in secondary schools, was promoted to assistant principal of adult education districtwide. The move only fueled anger among parents, who accused the board of breaking up the school’s successful leadership.

“A strong administrative team has been decimated on the basis of petty politics,” complained parent James Berry, who said his group has gathered almost 1,000 signatures on a petition to reinstate Housen.

But two parents said they were looking forward to a new administration at Lorbeer. Linda McGee, president of the PTA at Golden Springs Elementary School, said she had heard of several incidents in which Lorbeer students brought knives and alcohol onto campus.