Teacher Andrew Nguyen, bottom row, second from the left, with his winning AUSD speech and debate team.
Andrew Nguyen, a dedicated first year teacher, returned to his alma mater and took an embattled San Gabriel High School debate program to a state championship. Along the way, he motivated and inspired many students. At the end of the year, he was dismissed without cause by the principal, Jim Schofield. This happened at a school district with a reputation for institutional bullying and intimidation, questionable personnel practices, and a lack of transparency in decision-making on policies that affect students.
This same principal denied the school’s student journalists of their First Amendment rights by censoring an editorial covering the teacher’s dismissal, prompting the ACLU to threaten a lawsuit. In an attempt to protect the district’s image as well as his own, he employed additional bullying and intimidation tactics to silence the students. Roz Collier, the president of the Alhambra Teacher’s Association also delivered threats of arrest towards students hours before a planned protest. In the process, the principal was promoted to the district’s director of English language development.
Below you will find a press release distributed by Reform AUSD on June 19 to local media regarding the June 23 board meeting. A current record of all media accounts surrounding this issue is available at this link.
SIGN THE PETITION NOW!
