Chesapeake Science Point parents remain concerned about the school?s future now that their principal and another unconfirmed staff member were reassigned, but school officials say the reassignments are a personnel matter.
“We deal with employees at Chesapeake Science Point like we would deal with employees in any other school,” school system spokeswoman Maneka Wade said.
The employee situation is unrelated to school performance, school system officials said.
In the case of KIPP Harbor Academy, the charter school in Edgewater closed before the school year began because it couldn?t find a space suitable enough to support its growing needs, Wade said.
The school, originally for fifth- and sixth-graders, was supposed to add seventh-graders this year, she said.
Once the announcement of its closing was made, the academy lost 10 of its 12 teachers, and its principal resigned.
However, the situation at Chesapeake Science Point is entirely an employee matter, Wade said.
Last week, the school system confirmed that Principal Fatih Kandil had been reassigned to another position in the school system pending an investigation by the county Department of Social Services.
Parents have said the only reason they suspect he would have been reassigned was for rumors of making students do push-ups for not following certain school policies. School officials have not confirmed this information.
This would have been Kandil?s second year as principal. Judith Henry, a former dean of students and academics at the school, is the acting principal in Kandil?s undetermined absence. School system spokesman Bob Mosier also said one staff member had been reassigned last week, but he would not identify the person or give a reason for the reassignment.
Michelle Taylor, the Parent-Teacher Organization president and parent of a ninth-grader, said the staff member was Ali Tuna, a physics teacher.
Tuna also served as the International Baccalaureate and Olympiad coordinator, she said. “Parents have been just pulling together to see what we can do to support Mr. Kandil and Mr. Tuna.”
