Students rally for principal

Hundreds of students from Cape Girardeau Central Middle School gathered near the flagpole in front of the school Tuesday morning to protest the recent firing of principal Frank Ellis.

The students, mostly sixth-graders, chanted their support for Ellis for about half an hour before returning to their classes shortly after 9 a.m. Many of the students held signs with slogans like "Save our principal" and "Mr. Ellis is our friend, not just our principal."

Two police officers watched the proceedings as they stood in the middle of the street.

The event was organized by the students. The school board, acting on the recommendation of superintendent Dr. David Scala, voted last week to replace Ellis and assistant principal Debbie Followell at the end of the current school year.

Ellis watched the crowd of students, making sure that the rally didn't get out of control.

Fifth-grader Darious Whitney cheered loudly for Ellis. "He cares about the students," Darious said.

Sixth-grader Casey Funk said, "He is the best principal."

Tierra Baker, a sixth-grader, said Ellis cares about the students. "He gives people a second chance," she said.

Dai Coomer, who has two sets of twins in the school, showed up to watch the rally. Standing across the street from the crowd of students, Coomer said Ellis has done a good job as principal.

"It's fairly obvious the kids aren't complaining," he said. "Maybe we need to replace members of the school board."

Petition

At the rally, Coomer signed a petition circulated by parent Mary Jackson, who has two children attending the school. So far, more than 300 parents and community members have signed petitions asking the school board to reconsider its decision, Jackson said.

She said she hopes to present the petitions to the school board next month.

Ellis had a message for the students as they headed back to class. "OK, you made your point," he said, his voice amplified by a bullhorn.

Ellis said he appreciated the students' support. "I feel like I am going to run somewhere and cry," he said to a reporter as he watched the rally unfold.

At the close of the middle school rally, about 40 students from the adjacent junior high school walked outside to voice support for Ellis. Many of the students gave him hugs.

Return to class

Junior high school principal Roy Merideth encouraged the students to go to class rather than protest. But he and other school officials didn't stop the students from rallying in front of the junior high school.

The students gathered outside the school for about 10 minutes, Merideth said, before returning to class at the encouragement of Ellis.

School officials said the students at the junior high and middle school wouldn't be punished for staging the protests.

"I truly believe that the majority of kids really believe they were doing something meaningful," Merideth said.

Scala observed the student rallies at both the middle and junior high schools. "I thought the administrators handled it well and the students handled it well," he said.

Neither board members nor Scala have explained why the decision was made to replace Ellis and Followell other than they felt an administrative change was needed.

But in a Dec. 7 letter to Ellis, Scala and assistant superintendent Pat Fanger cited five main problems: Poor communication with teachers and parents, inconsistent discipline, lack of instructional leadership, failure to address assistant principal issues and failure to perform principal duties such as parent/teacher conferences.

The Southeast Missourian received the letter anonymously.

Scala refused Tuesday to discuss the letter, saying it was a personnel matter. But he said district officials didn't act hastily in deciding to search for a new principal and assistant principal.

According to the letter, Scala and Fanger met with Ellis on five occasions last fall, from Sept. 13 to Nov. 30, to discuss problems at the middle school.

Scala and Fanger wrote that they had indicated in November that an administrative change was needed at the middle school and that Ellis had been encouraged to find a new job outside the school district.

"We can no longer accept an 'adequate' level of performance by you and Mrs. Debbie Followell when the goal of the district is to maintain 'high quality' educators," Scala and Fanger wrote. "Together, you have not proven to be an effective administrative team."

Five years

Ellis and Followell have headed up the middle school of fifth- and sixth-graders since the school was established in 2002. The school at 1900 Thilenius St. has 580 students.

Both Ellis and Followell declined to comment Tuesday on the statements made in the letter.

PTA officials said last week that some parents had complained about discipline problems and a lack of communication between the building's administrators and parents.

PTA officials said some parents have moved their children to private schools in recent years to avoid sending them to the middle school.

But PTA co-vice president Brynda Dickson defended the school and the administrative efforts of Ellis and Followell.

Reaction

Jackson and several other parents involved in the petition effort say they personally haven't experienced problems with the administration of the middle school.

Vera Sterling, who has a sixth-grade daughter in the school, said she doesn't believe the criticisms directed at the principal and assistant principal.

Jackson agrees. "If there were these problems, why let it go on for five years?" Jackson asked.

She said Ellis regularly attends after-school activities including "family nights" and student presentations and performances.

"He is there anytime something is going on in the school," Jackson said.

"They are just trying to force him out," she said.

mbliss@semissourian.com

335-6611, extension 123