Concerned

A few facts:

Principal Matt Montoya at Bear Creek Elementary school is not bilingual. He needs an interpreter to communicate with spanish speaking families if they do not speak English.

Matt Montoya has little to do with the growth or success of the Dual Immersion program at Bear Creek. There is a contracted bilingual administrator, as well as many excellent bilingual teachers, who should take credit for this program. If anything, Matt's not being bilingual hinders the program.

Some questions to ask:

What measures or data shows that Bear Creek Students' performance has improved "exponentially" over the last three years? If one reviews State standardized test scores, what do we see over the last three years?

How old is Matt Montoya? What grades and for how long did he ever teach? Is three years as a principal really enough to handle the largest elementary school in the district with the greatest socio-economic challenges?

What is the teacher/staff attrition rate at Bear Creek over the last three years? Why are all these talented professionals choosing to transfer to other schools?

The decision to put Matt Montoya on administrative leave has absolutely nothing to do with any political agenda. It has to do with an evaluation process that takes into consideration all of the above and more. Principals are required to set goals each year. Has Matt Montoya achieved these goals? Probably not.

Just because someone's last name is "Montoya" does not mean that they are Latino. Just because someone is relatively young does not mean that they "get it". Being a principal of a large, multi-lingual, multi-cultural elementary school requires a level of professionalism, experience and expertise that Matt Montoya just does not have. Bear Creek will be better off with a bilingual principal who comes with a wealth of prior leadership experience. The new principal of Bear Creek should possess the character, integrity and clear vision for the future that Matt Montoya does not have.