Del Mar names schools leader | Superintendent will serve on interim basis

Chris Moran
The San Diego Union - Tribune
Dec 11, 1997. pg. B.1

DEL MAR -- Herb Farrar will serve as superintendent of Del Mar elementary schools until trustees hire a permanent successor to Robert Harriman, board members decided last night.

Farrar, 60, retired in July after 18 years as superintendent of Imperial County schools, a position to which he was elected five times.

He takes over from the three principals and other school administrators who assumed Harriman's duties after he was placed on administrative paid leave Oct. 18.

Farrar said he hopes his stewardship of the district, expected to last through April, "will be a time of healing," following Harriman's departure.

Harriman led the Del Mar Union School District for 13 years before school trustees placed him on leave for reasons that neither he nor trustees have fully disclosed.

Harriman had demanded an explanation for the decision, but then resigned on Dec. 4 under an agreement that will pay him as much as $166,420.

Harriman has said the leave dealt with statements he made in anger during a September school board meeting.

At the meeting, critics contended that school administrators were not doing enough to ease overcrowding in fourth- and fifth-grade classrooms.

"We have been called incompetent and many other different things that we highly resent, and we aren't going to put up with it," Harriman said.

"This may be the first time a school district sues a parent, or parents, as you will, for actual defamation of character and libel."

Farrar said he will not be a candidate for the permanent position. He starts Monday as the top administrator for a district of three schools with an enrollment of 1,852 kindergarten through sixth-grade students.

The district's fourth school is scheduled to open next year.

Farrar moved to San Diego last month after a 38-year career in Imperial County schools. He taught elementary school and served as an assistant principal, principal and assistant superintendent before his election as superintendent.

He is the 1997 Imperial County Educator of the Year.

In other business, board members re-elected Jeanne Waite as president of the board.

Credit: STAFF WRITER

Del Mar schools chief resigns | Harriman to be paid for 18 more months

Anna Cearley
The San Diego Union - Tribune
Dec 5, 1997. pg. B.1

DEL MAR -- Nearly two months after being put on administrative leave as superintendent of the Del Mar Union School District, Robert Harriman decided his own fate yesterday by submitting a letter of resignation.

Under an agreement worked out by lawyers for both sides, and unanimously approved by the school board last night, Harriman is entitled to receive payments over the next 18 months totaling as much as $166,420, as long as he is unemployed.

He will also get continued health and welfare benefits for up to 18 months, or until he gets his next job. His resignation is effective Dec. 31, and the benefits start in January.

Harriman was put on administrative paid leave Oct. 18 for reasons that neither he nor school trustees would disclose fully. However, Harriman said it had something to do with statements he made in anger at a September school board meeting.

Last night, the superintendent had been scheduled to defend himself against a list of school board concerns presented to him last month. Trustees were then expected to vote on his fate, and possibly reassign him as a teacher in the district.

But Harriman did not attend the special meeting at Del Mar Heights School and trustees announced his resignation to about 30 members of the public there.

In the agreement approved last night, both parties say Harriman always received good job evaluations and that he "successfully served the district as its superintendent for 13 years, and that the employee was a dedicated, hard-working and competent superintendent."

Trustees declined further comment.

Harriman did not return phone calls.

During last night's scheduled meeting, trustees had been expected to vote on three key issues: whether Harriman was in breach of his contract, whether trustees should release him as superintendent, and whether he should be reassigned to a teaching position.

Some members of the public said they attended expecting to get insight as to exactly why the superintendent had been put on administrative leave.

Trustees ordered Harriman, 59, on administrative paid leave after holding a closed-door meeting on his job performance.

The action came following the trustees' earlier renewal of Harriman's four-year contract, effective in July, said Julie Dubick, an attorney for Harriman. She added that there was no hint of problems in previous job reviews.

In late November, after additional closed-door meetings, Harriman received a packet of materials from trustees detailing the reasons he was placed on leave.

Although he did not reveal details, Harriman said then that he would ask for a public hearing so he could provide a counter- argument. He said issues dealt with personality, management and personnel concerns.

He acknowledged, however, that one concern stemmed from remarks he made in a September board meeting in which critics contended that the Del Mar Union School District wasn't doing enough to ease overcrowding in the fourth and fifth grades.

"We have been called incompetent and many other different things that we highly resent and we aren't going to put up with it," Harriman said during the meeting. "This may be the first time a school district sues a parent,or parents, as you will, for actual defamation of character and libel."

No lawsuit was ever filed, according to school officials. But Harriman's statements prompted some parents to express their concerns with trustees, questioning just how free they are to speak out.

During Harriman's absence, three principals and other administrators assumed his duties in the 1,860-student district.

School officials said they expect to hire an interim superintendent immediately as they start a search for a long-term successor to Harriman.

Mary Farrell, one of the people present at last night's meeting, said she supported the board's actions over the past months.

"I'd like to commend the board for their discretion and dignity," she said. "I think that it's important to look forward and continue educating our children in the best way possible."

Credit: STAFF WRITER

Schools leader seeks a hearing | Del Mar chief wants accusations explained

Anna Cearley
The San Diego Union - Tribune
Nov 19, 1997. pg. B.1

DEL MAR -- The school board has finally told Superintendent Robert Harriman why it put him on paid administrative leave a month ago, but Harriman is not saying what those reasons are.

Instead, he is demanding a public hearing to explain the quarter- inch-thick list of documents he received Monday by certified mail.

"I am going to ask for a public hearing and I want every accusation answered for," said Harriman, who is resting at home after being hospitalized Friday with chest pains.

Harriman said the documents appear to indicate that the school board "doesn't want me as their superintendent." He said they are not a dismissal notice but suggest that the board is evaluating his fitness to remain at his job.

"They seem to have to do with personality, management and personnel issues over the past 10 years," he said.

Harriman declined further comment yesterday, partly because he had not examined the entire packet, he said.

Harriman, 59, was put on paid leave Oct. 18, one month after a meeting in which he angered critics who contended that the Del Mar Union School District wasn't doing enough to ease overcrowding in the fourth and fifth grades.

No one is commenting on whether his statements at that September meeting or his handling of overcrowding is connected to Harriman's leave.

But ever since he was put on leave, Harriman and his attorneys have been demanding an explanation from the district.

School district attorney Woody Merrill would not confirm or deny that the superintendent had been sent the documents.

"It is the district's responsibility to maintain confidentiality, and that is different from his (Harriman's) because we are the employer, so I'm not in a position to say anything," Merrill said yesterday. "I can't comment on whether they've given him anything or whether it entitles him to a public hearing."

The school board reported no actions taken at two closed-door meetings last week, but Merrill said the only personnel actions that the board can talk about are those related to appointments, hirings or dismissals.

School board president Jeanne Waite said requesting a public hearing is one option available to Harriman. Though she declined further comment on any school board actions, she said last week that board members "are working very hard to get a resolution to the situation."

During Harriman's absence, three principals and other administrators have assumed his duties in the 1,860-student district. Trustees placed Harriman on leave one month after a school board meeting in which Del Mar Hills School Principal Gary Wilson said a parent made derogatory and demeaning comments about the district's efforts to deal with overcrowding.

"We have been called incompetent and many other different things that we highly resent and we aren't going to put up with it," Harriman said during the meeting. "This may be the first time a school district sues a parent, or parents, as you will, for actual defamation of character and libel."

No such lawsuit has been filed, school district officials said. Harriman has defended his statements but acknowledged that his language was perhaps too strong.

Julie Dubick, an attorney for Harriman, said the school board recently renewed Harriman's four-year contract, effective July 1997, and there was no hint of problems in previous job reviews.

The fourth and fifth grades at Carmel Del Mar, Del Mar Heights and Del Mar Hills schools averaged from 26.3 to 29.33 pupils per class in September, compared with the desired average of 27 pupils, according to Del Mar Union enrollment figures.

During the September school board meeting, the superintendent referred to a Sept. 4 letter that he sent out to parents addressing class sizes. In it, he suggested creating a combination fourth- and fifth-grade class at Del Mar Hills School, providing additional teacher aides for the students in those grades.

Shortly after that meeting, a half-time teacher was hired at Del Mar Hills to work with small groups of students. A teacher's aide has also been hired at Del Mar Heights.

Credit: STAFF WRITER

School chief wants leave status explained

Anna Cearley
The San Diego Union - Tribune
Nov 15, 1997. pg. B.1

DEL MAR -- Attorneys for Superintendent Robert Harriman are continuing to demand that school trustees explain why they placed him on administrative paid leave nearly a month ago.

"The board has not provided any explanation," said a Harriman attorney, Julie Dubick. "The board only reiterated that the investigation involves matters related to Dr. Harriman's performance."

This week, in two closed sessions totaling about five hours, trustees met to discuss the superintendent's job performance, but board members reported no action.

"We are working very hard to get a resolution to the situation," said Del Mar Union School Board President Jeanne Waite.

Trustees placed Harriman on leave Oct. 18, a month after a school board meeting in which the superintendent angered critics who contend that the district isn't doing enough to ease overcrowding in the fourth and fifth grades.

Neither side will comment on whether the superintendent's behavior or his handling of the district's overcrowding is connected to Harriman's leave.

Dubick said the board had recently renewed Harriman's four-year contract, effective July 1997, and there was no hint of problems in previous job reviews.

"There are only complimentary, praiseworthy materials in the file," she said.

During the controversial September meeting, Del Mar Hills School Principal Gary Wilson said a parent made derogatory and demeaning comments about the district's efforts to deal with overcrowding.

"We have been called incompetent and many other different things that we highly resent and we aren't going to put up with it," Harriman said during the meeting, which was routinely tape- recorded.

"This may be the first time a school district sues a parent, or parents, as you will, for actual defamation of character and libel."

No such lawsuit has been filed, school district officials said. This week Harriman defended his actions, but said that his language was perhaps too strong.

In hindsight, "I would have brought the message across in another way," he said.

Harriman said that he does not know if that one incident prompted trustees to place him on administrative paid leave.

According to Del Mar Union enrollment numbers, as of September, the class sizes for the fourth and fifth grades at Carmel Del Mar, Del Mar Heights and Del Mar Hills schools range from an average of 26.3 to 29.33. The desired average for the 1,860-student district in fourth and fifth grades is 27.

"The class sizes are not where we would want them to be," Harriman conceded during the September meeting.

During the meeting, the superintendent for the past 13 years referred to a Sept. 4 letter that he had sent out to parents addressing class sizes.

In it, he suggested the possible creation of a combination fourth- and fifth-grade class at Del Mar Hills School, and providing additional teacher aides for the students in those grades.

Shortly after the September meeting, a half-time teacher was hired at Del Mar Hills to work with small groups of students. A teacher's aide has also been hired at Del Mar Heights.

Harriman was placed on administrative leave following a closed school-board meeting in October. Trustees then held a follow-up meeting soon after to discuss the superintendent's evaluation, according to Virginia Pearson, another Harriman attorney. During Harriman's absence, school board president Waite said, the district's three school principals and other administrators have assumed the superintendent's duties.

Credit: STAFF WRITER

Del Mar school head placed on paid leave

Anna Cearley
The San Diego Union - Tribune
Nov 1, 1997. pg. B.1

DEL MAR -- Robert Harriman, superintendent of the Del Mar Union District, has been put on administrative paid leave, while other district officials are juggling the duties of the district's top administrative job.

Trustees ordered the leave Oct. 18 following a closed school- board meeting, board president Jeanne Waite confirmed yesterday. Trustees held a follow-up meeting Tuesday to discuss the superintendent's evaluation, according to Virginia Pearson, Harriman's attorney.

Pearson said she had been asking the school board, through its attorney, for information this week and was promised a written response, which had not arrived by late yesterday.

"We are in the dark about as much as you are," said Pearson. Harriman, who has headed the district for the past 13 years, was unavailable for comment last night.

Waite, citing confidentiality for personnel matters, said she could not say what prompted the decision to place Harriman on leave.

She would not comment on how long the paid leave might last, or whether someone will be be named interim superintendent.

"It's an indefinite leave term," she said.

Waite said that board members enacted the leave and then notified the superintendent, who was not present during the vote. "We are making every effort to keep things moving along in the district," she said. "The three principals and the business manager and the woman in charge of special education have all strongly stepped up to the plate to help during this time."

In August, after 20 months of talks, the three-school, 1,600- student district reached an agreement with the city of San Diego to build an elementary school in Carmel Valley. The agreement, which Harriman was active in crafting, ended months of often heated debate between educators and city officials.

The breakthrough came in the form of a $1.8 million loan from the Del Mar school system to the city of San Diego, whose leaders said they lacked sufficient funds for the city's share of the work. Del Mar officials believe the $6.2 million elementary school can open at the start of the 1998-99 academic year. The school will be in a rapidly growing section of Carmel Valley off state Route 56.