SYRACUSE - Approximately 130 people gathered at a meeting Thursday night at the Syracuse Community Centr to drum up support for Milford School Principal Cindy Kaiser.

At the last meeting of the Wawasee Community School Board, all administrators in the school corporation were granted one-year contract extensions except for Kaiser.

The board released five reasons for not extending Kaiser's contract: failure to provide adequate leadership, failure to maintain appropriate school community relations, failure to properly manage personnel, failure to properly manage a facility and inappropriate personal attributes.

These are also the primary issues covered on an administrator's yearly evaluation.

Kaiser's attorney, Steve Snyder, released information from two previous years' evaluations. All administrators are graded on scale of one to four, with four being the highest. In both evaluations, Kaiser received three threes and two fours.

Organizers of the meeting pushed for patrons of the community to rally around Kaiser by contacting all members of the school board, but they stressed restraint and calm.

"The last thing we need to be is emotional," said to Jeff Wells, a former Wawasee school board member.

"We don't want this to be a personal thing. It's about the kids, and what this does to the kids," Wells added.

At the last school board meeting on Nov. 9, Wawasee Superintendent Mark Stock recommended that all adminitrative contracts be extended for two years.

After discussion, board member Marion Acton made a motion for one-year contract extensions for all administrators with the exception of Kaiser, who would be issued a preliminary notice of non-renewal of her contract.

Mary Lou Dixon seconded the motion.

Acton, Dixon and Dallas Winchester voted in favor of the motion.

Brian Dawes and George Gilbert voted against the motion.

"If Mark (Stock) is recommending a two-year extension, that should be a vote of confidence," Wells said last night.

This was also an important reason for the meeting, according to both Snyder and Wells.

"The idea of a two-year extension is to send a signal of a good job," Wells said. "If there is a problem with an administrator, then you can install an action plan.

"By doing a one-year extension, we send the signal of a loss of job security," he said.

Administrators are not afforded the protection of tenure like teachers have, and there is no due process for principals and assistant principals. "They are essentially at-will employees," Snyder said. "The only thing we can do is rally you."

Wells and Snyder were both concerned that a lack of a two-year contract might force quality administrators to look elsewhere and leave the Wawasee district to find employment with more security.

Also speaking at the meeting was Milford teacher Paige Keim. "We love our principal. She's the reason why we're successful," she said.

Keim said although this situation has been tough for the staff of the school, some good has come out of it. "It's brought the staff together as a family," she said.

She added that if the situation isn't resolved, it could have effects on the children of the school. "In the long run, if we don't feel like our principal is supported, it will directly affect the students," she said.

Kaiser also voiced her feelings at the meeting.

"I want to continue as principal of Milford School. I have a school where students excel and students are supported," she said. "The school board members have never been a principal. They have never walked in my shoes."

Supporters hope Kaiser's fate can be reversed at the next school board meeting Dec. 14.

Until then, people at the meeting say they will continue to support her by signing petitions, contacting school board members and purchasing T-shirts. [[In-content Ad]]