No Action Taken Over Remark by Superintendent

The superintendent of the Las Virgenes Unified School District, who offended homosexuals and male teachers by saying too many men seeking jobs as elementary school teachers are “effeminate,” emerged unscathed Tuesday after meeting with the school board and representatives of the teachers union.

The Las Virgenes school board announced that it had taken no action against Supt. Albert (Bud) Marley, who witnesses said made the remark during a Nov. 11 discussion on gender bias in the classroom, sponsored by the Thousand Oaks branch of the American Assn. of University Women.

School board members refused to comment further on what transpired at their hourlong, private session with Marley prior to the board’s public meeting Tuesday night.

Marley, who set off a similar affair two years ago when he referred to Asians as “slant-eyed,” also appeared to have gained an ally in the Las Virgenes Educators Assn., the union representing the district’s 450 teachers.

Paul Markowitz, co-president of the union, said he and another union official met for 45 minutes Tuesday afternoon with Marley because they were concerned about the possible effect of Marley’s opinions on the district’s hiring policies.

“We were assured that there is no personnel policy, written or unwritten, that certain people would be hired and some would not . . . . There is no unspoken criteria about male and female role models,” Markowitz said.

“We’re satisfied with his explanation.”

Marley was quoted as telling the gender bias session that “so many of the men who go into elementary education are effeminate.” He later said he was concerned about hiring role models for children, saying that schools have many female “mother surrogates, but we also need father surrogates.”

Marley acknowledged making the comment, Markowitz said, but told union officials that he was referring only to the pool of male job applicants in general, not to any teachers currently working for the district. About 40%, or 180, of the teachers in the district are men, district officials said.

“I certainly have problems with that statement, but it’s just a difference of opinion,” Markowitz said. “Since he is not directly involved with hiring teachers, it is not significant.”

Candidates for teaching positions in the district are interviewed by a committee of teachers and administrators, and the final decision is made by the school board and a panel composed of the district’s seven elementary school principals, said Robert Fraisse, assistant superintendent of personnel. However, Marley does have a say in the hiring of principals, Fraisse said.

Last week, Marley distributed a written clarification statement to the district’s teachers, saying he had meant only to describe the need for more men in elementary teaching, adding that “if I could replay my comments and select other words to capture my thoughts on this sensitive issue, I would do so.”

Marley’s popularity dates back to 1984 when he inherited a district rocked with strife between teachers and administrators, Markowitz and several teachers at the board meeting said. They credited the superintendent with uniting the district.

“We judge him by the man we know, not by one sound bite heard over and over,” said John Reich, a high school social studies teacher who has taught in the district for 20 years.