HANAPEPE — Representatives from the state Department of Education heard parents and teachers call for the immediate removal of Waimea Canyon Middle School Principal Melissa Speetjens at a meeting at Hanapepe Neighborhood Center on Monday evening, where Speetjens was accused of multiple forms of negligence and creating a toxic school environment for students and staff.
“I’ve worked with 12 principals in all. This current sitting principal stands out as the one who has created the most toxic work environment I’ve ever experienced in my career,” said Alex Nelson, reading aloud anonymous testimony from a teacher at the school.
“Most of this stems from manipulative decision-making, a lack of communication, a lack of collaboration, a lack of transparency, a lack of support, and a lack of follow through on critical incidents. This is not leadership. This is failed leadership,” Nelson read.
She noted the teacher declined to speak publicly due to “a fear of retaliation.”
Nelson was one of a number of people to speak out during the roughly three-hour event, where parents and teachers took turns detailing safety concerns and bullying incidents at the school.
“(Speetjens has) created a safe place for bullying, for fighting,” said parent Taryn Dizon, calling the school a “harassment safe zone.”
Several parents recounted meeting with Speetjens due to concerns that their children were being bullied at the school, and were critical of the principal’s alleged dismissive attitude and lack of care.
Gilbert Medeiros, a grandparent of a former student at the school, said his granddaughter experienced such severe bullying that she had to withdraw. She is now homeschooled.
“Now we gotta be telling her, ‘Don’t worry, high school will be different,’” he said.
Medeiros also criticized a lack of consequences for bullies, saying that innocent students are left to suffer.
Tory Singer, a sixth-grade science teacher at the school, described being reprimanded by Speetjens for calling 911 after two students collided and one hit their head on cement.
Singer said the student was writhing in pain, unable to communicate clearly, and could not identify the number of fingers he was holding up.
“I called 911 automatically because based upon the student’s lack of response, I was legitimately concerned that the student may have had a concussion or some form of head trauma,” he said.
While waiting for the response team, Singer said the principal arrived on the scene and reprimanded him for not seeking approval before calling 911.
“She told me that I should not have called 911 without administrator approval. And she also told me that doing that would give the appearance that our school was unsafe because something happened without the administration’s awareness,” he said.
“This was very odd and out of place given the more pressing matter, which was clearly the student’s welfare. But her focus was on the response and perception of higher-ups,” Singer added, later saying the hostile work environment has made it challenging to properly do his job.
Other concerns included keeping all students grouped together in the outdoor gym and cafeteria, with parents saying the students were not safe due to the risk of an active shooter earlier this year.
U‘ilani Corr-Yorkman, a parent of a student that recently had a “horrible year” in sixth grade at the school, said previous efforts to address concerns have been passed on or ignored.
“I 100,000 percent believe that the problem is Melissa. And at the end of the day, Melissa needs to go,” said Corr-Yorkman.
Corr-Yokman recently started a Change.org petition urging the state Department of Education to remove Speetjens from her position. As of July 25, the petition had gathered more than 1,300 signatures.
State Department of Education Kaua‘i Complex Area Superintendent Daniel Hamada spoke, along with Kaua‘i Board of Education Member William Arakaki, at the end of the meeting. Hamada told parents he would make a decision “based on facts” when deciding whether to remove Speetjens.
“I hear you guys. I hear what you’re saying. But I’m gonna look at all the facts. I’m gonna look at everything and then make a decision from there,” he said, noting that he still needs to meet with the school community council, faculty, PTSA and support staff.
The Garden Island reached out to Speetjens for an interview, but she referred any inquiries to the state Department of Education.
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Emma Grunwald, reporter, can be reached 808-652-0638 or egrunwald@thegardenisland.com.
Editor’s note: This story has been updated to reflect a change in the last paragraph to state Department of Education.
This situation has been common knowledge for some time, and should have been resolved long ago. The principal’s mindset and attitude are identical to that which I’ve seen over the past two decades of working social services/psych in our community; with certain admin types, the focus is on numbers. Nothing can be tolerated in those minds that detracts from “performance” figures, eg., how the situation looks to outsiders or evaluators, rather than the reality of it and how it affects the kids, parents, and teachers involved. I worked for an admin like that, and ended up leaving the agency, as I felt (knew) that the situation would only result in further conflict and damage to the kids. In the 40 years I’ve worked with schools, SpEd kids, and forensic situations, I’ve seen some pretty egregious lack of perception and/or action in situations such as this…and, frankly, the initial reactions/statements from DOE do not make me feel confident as to the outcome. The “facts” are obvious. Take care of it, sir.
I certainly hope the DOE takes action. If all of our testimonies are going to be ignored, that’s a law suit waiting to happen. I am proud of the westside parents, teachers, grandparents, aunties and uncles who showed up to speak their concerns. DOE, take your blinders off….
Arakaki & Hamada are part of the problem! Their comments are disingenuous. Staff at WCMS have been sending letters of concern for years detailing Principal Melissa Speetjens bullying teachers reporting student behavioral concerns. They’re also in possession of multiple years School Climate Surveys and School Quality Surveys that express the same sentiments these brave teachers and dedicated parents are once again bringing to light. This is not Principal Melissa Speetjens first rodeo. She was saved by COVID-19 school closing after parents of children attending WCMS at that time also sought her removal as Principal. Might as well add Arakaki & Hamada to the “must go” list!
Mr. Arakaki, “what facts do you need?” The teacher’s and parent(s) testimonies should be enough fact you need.
If a child is bleeding lots of blood from an open cut artery , “why do they (teachers) have to wait to have an okay from Administration to call for Paramedics/EMT? The teacher clearly stated that the child hit his/her head on the ground very hard and wasn’t responding normally.
Seems to me that Ms Seeptjens and yourself need to take an Active Shooter Training Course. It teaches three major steps,”RUN, HIDE, FIGHT! Also, bullying is not okay!
Don’t wait for a death to happen!
Howard Tolbe
1300 signatures…..time to go