Schools

Parents Call for Mira Catalina Principal's Dismissal

Grace La Tegola was hired in June to lead Mira Catalina Elementary School in Rancho Palos Verdes.

A group of parents from Mira Catalina Elementary School in Rancho Palos Verdes is demanding the dismissal of the school's principal, Grace La Tegola, according to a report last week in the Palos Verdes Peninsula News.

News Editor Mary Scott reported that parents had circulated a letter calling for La Tegola's ouster, claiming the new principal has turned the school environment "almost hostile."

This is La Tegola's first year in the Palos Verdes Peninsula Unified School District. Parents speculated that she was hired by the school district because of her relationship with former Chief Academic Officer Martin Griffin, who resigned last month after allegations that he posted homemade pornography on an X-rated video website and only worked four days a week at his office in Palos Verdes. He spent the rest of his time in San Diego, working there as a bishop of the independent American Catholic Church.

Concerns about La Tegola's leadership have been bubbling up for awhile. At the PVPUSD Board of Education meeting Oct. 24, parent Scott Reid referred to issues with La Tegola's hiring when he addressed the board.

"Why is the district stooping to hire as the Mira Catalina principal a woman whose only apparent qualification is her history with Mr. Griffin?" Reid asked. "By her own admission, Ms. La Tegola had been away from the classroom for a number of years. There is a growing number of increasingly frustrated and concerned Mira Catalina teachers and parents who will tell (you) she should have stayed away."

An official with the PVPUSD told the News that Griffin did not hire La Tegola, who worked with Griffin at Palisades Charter High School in Pacific Palisades.

According to former PVPUSD Board of Education member Joan Davidson, La Tegola worked as a consultant for a firm called DataWORKS, an educational research firm whose expertise extends to the Common Core State Standards.

Though her name was removed from the website shortly afterward, La Tegola worked as a liaison for DataWORKS as recently as Oct. 23, Davidson told Patch.

"She shouldn't be working for a Common Core firm as a liaison (whose) job is to get contracts" while working for a school district implementing the Common Core, Davidson said.

La Tegola did not respond to the News' request for comment.


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