MOORPARK : Principal’s Contract Won’t Be Renewed

The board of the Moorpark Unified School District has notified Chaparral Middle School Principal Lucretia Peebles that it will not renew her contract for the next school year, officials said.

Board members announced at their meeting Tuesday that they had unanimously agreed in closed session not to renew the contract of a school principal.

Although school officials would not identify the principal, Ellen Smith, the district’s personnel director, said, “What I can tell you is there is a new position announcement posted for a new principal at Chaparral.”

The district has no other openings for school principals, she said.

Peebles, who was previously an assistant principal at a junior high school in Pomona, has been principal of Chaparral for only one year. She could not be reached for comment.

District officials would not publicly disclose the reasons for not renewing Peebles’ contract.

But one school official who did not want to be identified said Chaparral teachers had complained that the principal was autocratic and ignored teachers’ suggestions about school policies.

Some parents praised Peebles’ efforts during her yearlong tenure.

Former school board member Lynda Kira, whose son attended Chaparral last year, said she appreciated Peebles’ high standards for teachers and students at the school, including her emphasis on student discipline. “I think Dr. Peebles was an excellent principal,” Kira said, adding that she has “heard nothing negative from other parents” about Peebles.

Peebles’ replacement will be the fifth principal at Chaparral in the past five years. The high turnover began after longtime Chaparral Principal Charles Smith was promoted to assistant superintendent three years ago.