Educators Who Were Forced Out of Castle Park Elementary
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Most readers probably expect this page to be about the
five teachers who were transferred out of Castle Park
Elementary in August of 2004, causing a huge media
brouhaha.
Actually, the transfer of those five teachers was just
the tip of the iceberg.
Strangely enough, those five teachers
failed to mention, even when they
testified under oath during their own
grievance arbitration, that there had
been a series of crimes and lawsuits
involving Castle Park Elementary
preceding their transfers. These crimes and
lawsuits had cost Chula Vista Elementary School
District hundreds of thousands of dollars.
The person who initiated the series of crimes was none
other than Robin Donlan, one of the "Castle Park Five."
She and her fellow Castle Park Elementary teachers
have worked hard for years to cover up the
wrongdoing at Castle Park Elementary, yet they spoke
to the press about their transfers to other schools.
Their complaints were published in a long series of
unsigned articles in the The San Diego Union Tribune
by editor Don Sevrens.
They pretended that the new principal, Ollie Matos, who had been at the school only
one year, was the source of all the problems at the school. These five teachers went to
the media with their story, but deceived the public, as they continued to cover-up, as they
had for many years, the truth about Castle Park.
The truth is that cliques, not principals, had ruled the school for many years. The two
ruling cliques were often in conflict with each other, but equally as often they joined
together to destroy a common enemy, such as a principal or teacher they didn't like. The
"Castle Park Family," as this super-clique was called, was led by former Chula Vista
Educators (CVE) President Gina Boyd, Robin Donlan, Peggie Myers, Nikki Perez, and others.
The "Castle Park Family" got rid of the best and brightest teachers and
principals, while protecting "lemons" who were politically useful to
them.
This clique not only violated longstanding district policies to get rid of teachers who didn't
conform to its wishes, but violated the collective bargaining agreement, and many
California laws, all without blinking an eye.
What happened to the principals and teachers who were forced out of the school by the
"Castle Park Family"?
Click links below for the answers.
SO, WHO ARE THE LOSERS?
THE KIDS!
The "Castle Park Family" cost the district hundreds of thousands of dollars in legal
fees.
The school district got tired of the costly and abusive actions of Robin Donlan, Peggie Myers, Nikki Perez and other members of
the "Castle Park Family," and in August 2004 transferred five teachers to other schools in an effort to regain some measure of
accountability and compliance at the school.
Superintendent Lowell Billings, unlike his predecessor, Libia Gil, obeyed the contract, and met with teachers who were being
transferred, as required by the contract.
The transferred teachers, as well as teacher union (Chula Vista Educators) presidents Gina Boyd and Jim Groth, had kept quiet
when district policy, the contract and the law had been violated when other teachers had been forced out.
But suddenly they wanted the contract followed in torturous detail when it affected members
of the "Castle Park Family."
Two parents belonged to the Castle Park Family, loyally following orders. One of them was Felicia Starr, who,
unbelievably, is running for school board in the very same school district!
Hypocrisy? It boggles the mind that these individuals could attack the district when the district had spent hundreds of thousands
of dollars in attorney's fees to represent members of the "Castle Park Family" in court.
The district could never have guessed that these troublemakers would have the nerve to demand that they be allowed to do
whatever they want, whenever they want to do it, no matter how harmful to children their actions might be.
The "Castle Park Family" got rid of the best and brightest teachers and principals, while protecting incompetents who were politically useful to them.
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Ollie Matos went on to
become Director of
Educational Services in
Lemon Grove School
District
Luci Fowers became principal of Albert Einstein Charter School
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SAN DIEGO EDUCATION REPORT
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Update June 2008:
History has continued to repeat itself at Castle Park Elementary. Yet another principal, Carlos Ulloa, has been forced out of the school by the "Castle Park Family."
And another member of the "Castle Park Family has been transferred out of the school. The transferred teacher is Nikki Perez, and she's been transferred out of the same school for the second time in four years.
What is going on in the heads of the school board and district administration? Not much, apparently. After all these years, they still have their heads in the sand.
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(appointed to replace Cheryl Cox in 2007)
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Director, San Diego County Department of Aging
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Retired Navy, Plumbing store owner
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Serious problems have existed at Castle
Park Elementary for more than a
decade.
In 2004, Peggie Myers, Robin Donlan, Nikki Perez, Stephenie
Parker-Pettit and Victoria Singleton created a media frenzy when
they were transferred out of Castle Park Elementary School.
Larry Cunningham