Parents support teacher’s lawsuit

Jeff Benson

Several Newport Heights Elementary School parents stand behind former

Principal Judith Chambers, who last week filed a $3 million lawsuit

against three district officials and three parents who she says

defamed her.

They believe she has reason to defend herself.

Chambers’ lawsuit accuses administrators of breach of contract,

violation of due process, defamation and intentional infliction of

emotional distress, charges she believes had a hand in her dismissal

from the school in February.

Some parents feel Chambers was unfairly criticized by parents for

the departure of popular substitute teacher Shannon Jay in a February

public meeting called by the district.

Amy Tennyson, a Newport Harbor High School PTA member who served

as Newport Heights’ PTA president from 2001 to 2002, said she enjoyed

working with Chambers and added that the former principal was liked

by many of the school’s parents and children.

“I just don’t think anybody deserves to be treated the way she was

treated by parents,” Tennyson said. “I mean, taking it to a public

forum like that -- her career is gone.”

Chambers is suing Newport-Mesa Unified School District Supt.

Robert Barbot, Asst. Supt. of Secondary Education Susan Astaritas and

Asst. Supt. of Human Resources Lori McCune for lost wages and

benefits, damage to her reputation, breach of covenant of good faith

and fair dealing, defamation, intentional infliction of emotional

distress, retaliation and violating state and federal due process.

Parents Kim Miller, Robert Shaw and Julie Scharnell are also being

sued for defamation. Scharnell, who served as Newport Heights PTA

president before current president Terry Torres, said she couldn’t

understand what the lawsuit was based on or what she did wrong.

“We spoke out and said we were worried about the way our school

was being run,” Scharnell said. “The district [officials] came to our

school and said there were issues with the way Judith was running our

school and with the way Mrs. Jay was handled. Hundreds of parents

came to our multi-purpose room and every one had their own personal

reason. Three or four days later, Mrs. Jay wasn’t there anymore.”

Katie Anderson, a parent who had two children attending Newport

Heights during Chambers’ tenure, described her as an involved,

dedicated principal who loved her job and her students.

“I cringe whenever I think about it,” Anderson said. “Why is it

coming to this, where she has to sue? On top of that, when she leaves

this place, what is she going to do?”

Torres agreed with Chambers’ assertion that the district created a

town hall meeting-type of atmosphere in which the most vocal parents

could pile on their displeasure with the former principal.

“Some of the parents in Mrs. Jay’s class were concerned about her

pending replacement, and as those parents got fired up, the renegades

that had a one-time personal displeasure with her surfaced with their

stories,” Torres said. “It encouraged people to talk about what they

liked and what they didn’t like about our principal. It perpetuated

those people who’d had that one-time displeasure with her, and it

snowballed to the point that Mrs. Chambers left our school.

“This definitely creates a line in the sand of people who care

about Mrs. Chambers and those who don’t.” District officials have

refused to comment on the litigation as a matter of district policy.

The school district’s attorney, Steve Montanez, said that the

district correctly followed a statute that requires a principal with

former status as a teacher be allowed to return to the district as a

teacher. Chambers was reclassified as a teacher days before the March

15 deadline to do so, Montanez said.

Chambers is currently assigned as a fifth-grade teacher at Davis

Education Center.

The district officials and parents should be served with the

lawsuit within the next month, Chamber’s attorney Margot Nelson said.

* JEFF BENSON covers education and may be reached at (714)

966-4617 or by e-mail at jeff.benson@latimes.com.