Principal Suanico Reveals

Here's a follow-up on my entries: Community Protests Firing of Filipino-American Principal and School District Fires Popular FilAm Principal.

Romy Marquez, Publisher of Diario Veritas of San Diego, wrote the following article on why Tim Suanico was fired as principal of Heritage Elementary School.

As June 30, the day of his relief came close, Tim Suanico, principal of Heritage Elementary School in the San Diego suburb of Chula Vista, lifted his veil of confidentiality by divulging the major reasons why he was being fired.

This week, Suanico provided some details about the reasons for kicking him out. One of these was his calling Billings' attention to the school's apparent non-compliance with federal laws on EL (English Learners) students.

"My attempt to fix the 'holes' I found in the 'model' program was only met with resistance and sabotage my leadership," Suanico explained in a letter he furnished this reporter.

In response, Billings repeatedly told Suanico that he "wasn't there to 'fix anything but to maintain'," according to the same letter.

Suanico also quoted Billings as telling him, thus: "My [Suanico's] placement at Heritage Elementary was wrong because it wasn't a place that needed fixing.

"Suanico cited an instance where he found teachers resisting his request to comply with ELD (English Language Development) instruction. "I found that teachers were not even aware that this was required by federal law," he said. "Clearly, this was a new experience for them," he added.

(News forwarded to Balita USA egroup of Perry Diaz)