Alberton principal returns after administrative leave

Over 50 people packed a small classroom during the Alberton school board meeting to discuss the principal’s return after being placed on administrative leave for three weeks. Staff, community members, teachers, and students wanted information regarding Principal Kyle Fisher’s leave, which was from Feb. 19 to March 8.

The Comprehensive School Community Treatment Program also had invited the Mineral County Attorney Ellen Donohue and two deputies from the sheriff’s office to attend the meeting. In addition to Fisher’s absence, the topic of how to file complaints and how parents should be notified of these instances were discussed at the meeting held on March 13.

The public comment portion of the meeting began with Josh Reese, who works at the school, welcoming Kyle back and asked for people who support his return to stand. Roughly half the room stood and gave the principal a round of applause. Both Kyle and his wife Lexy, who is an Alberton teacher, were at the meeting; however Kyle did not comment during the evening.

Board chair Andrew Knapp said Kyle was not on the agenda and due to his right to privacy, they could not discuss why he was put on a leave of absence.

“It’s a private matter and I don’t know all the details,” said Knapp. “I have no true information on the exact details on anything. People are placed on administrative leave for numerous reasons.”

Alberton Super-intendent, Steve Picard echoed Knapp and said he had talked to legal counsel and was told not to divulge information, “Kyle’s rights outweigh the public’s right to know. If he agreed and it came out in an open session, then I could release more information,” he said. “I got a lot of calls from parents and I felt our children and staff were not in jeopardy so that’s all the information I could relay.”

Several parents commented that they understood his right to privacy but were upset that they had not been informed about Kyle being put on administrative leave.

“We just want transparency,” said Jenn Fredette, who has a student at the school. “We don’t know what did or did not happen, but as parents at the very least we deserve to know about it.”

Picard, who is on a part-time schedule, acknowledged that he should have informed parents about it and was filling in during Kyle’s absence on a full-time basis. He also pointed out procedures for public meetings and how much could be discussed that evening.

“A lot of people here support Kyle, and that’s fine and goes along with open meeting laws.” Picard said. “If we get into anything individual it has to be on the agenda and posted and then that individual would have the right to a closed board session, which means everybody would leave except those involved.”

Another parent, Kavita Bay, said, “I’d like to bring to light this issue of documentation that there’s a lot of it that has not been filed and I wanted to bring this to the board’s attention. It’s been going on for a long time and the board needs to address it. The lack of documentation is a serious problem and for you to say you have no ground to do anything, there’s just been neglect in this area. You need to put that on the agenda.”

Picard welcomed the parent and anyone else who wished to lodge a complaint to schedule a meeting with him. He then will file the complaint and usually discusses important issues with the school board.

Picard and Knapp both agreed that the issue is being looking into. “I don’t want to point fingers but I know moving forward, if you bring it to me or ask to put something on the agenda, I’ll get it on there for you,” Picard said.

Another parent commented that when their daughter was removed from their home by Child Protective Services, the Fishers welcomed her into their home. “The Fishers stepped up and were there for her, because he cares about his students, whether he’s on or off duty,” she said.

However, Laura Acker, who works with Parents as Teachers commented that this was a display of how boundaries are not being kept and a teacher should not open their house to a student.

“There’s always stuff that can happen and a lot of times boundaries are expanded,” Knapp said. “I agree but it’s a small school and there’s a lot of gray area that people push all the time.”

Another parent expressed concerns over information shared about students that should not be shared and that it oversteps confidentiality, “as far as grievances, there’s a hole in your group,” she said.