Dr. Nannette Christmas-Reed was asked why she wanted to remain working in a school district where the top administrators do not welcome her presence.
"My purpose for being here is to ensure student success. We have been on a roll at Davis Elementary School of creating student success, and I would hate to leave that," she replied.
During her tenure as the principal at Davis, the school's state accreditation rating rose from a Level 2 to Level 5.
Christmas-Reed is seeking re-employment by the Greenwood School District. She testified Thursday at the district's central office on Howard Street during the second day of an appeals hearing that began Wednesday and will continue on a yet-to-be-scheduled date. Greenwood attorney David Holly is the hearing officer.
She asked for the hearing after receiving a Jan. 19 letter from Dr. Leslie Daniels, superintendent, informing her that he would not recommend that the Greenwood School Board renew her contract to for the 2005-2006 school year. The board has not attended the hearing and will receive a transcript later.
Christmas-Reed is being accused of gross insubordination, failure to follow direct orders, chronic tardiness and absence without permission, among other allegations.
On Wednesday, administrators described situations in which they said she failed to heed instructions and disregarded local, state and federal rules and policies. They also said she acted toward them with disrespect.
Christmas-Reed denies all charges except for that of tardiness.
On Thursday, she said she is trying to do better. She reviewed attendance reports that, Christmas-Reed testified, show she arrived at Davis officially late - no more than seven minutes after 7:30 a.m.— once between Feb. 1 and March 2.
Assistant Superintendent Margie Pulley said Wednesday that between July 1, 2004, and Jan. 31, 2005, Christmas-Reed was late to work 72 times: 1 to 30 minutes late on 42 days, 30 minutes to an hour late on 23 days and more than an hour late on seven days.
Christmas-Reed said she is often delayed by teachers, parents or students before she can check in. "They'll be waiting for me, as soon as I can get out of the car," she said. On occasion, she has remained in her car to catch truants slipping away from campus. She said she has had to stop or prevent fights before getting to her office.
"I'm never intentionally late. There have been circumstances that have caused me to be late," she said.
She also discussed administrators' charges that she refused orders to remove holiday decorations that were setting off burglar alarms.
A letter from Kimberly Wolfe of Mississippi Alarm Co. said all 32 of the alarms from Davis Elementary School between Nov. 22, 2004, and Jan. 10, 2005 came from Davis' primary, or lower-school, building, not from the school's two-story upper-school building.
Both buildings were extensively decorated with items hanging from ceilings in hallways. Christmas-Reed said Assistant Superintendent Jim Mattox told her to have the decorations removed from both buildings because air moving through the school's heating system was making the decorations sway. This was activating motion sensors and setting off false alarms.
She said she protested that "we don't have any heat in the upper building" but "he assured me it was the upper building.
"He insisted on taking all of the decorations down.
"All we talked about was that upper building."
Witnesses from the faculty at Davis testified that Christmas-Reed responded to the decorations removal with frustration. They differed about the tone of her discourse during a faculty meeting on the day the decorations were removed.
Teacher Esther McKnight said Wednesday she thought Christmas-Reed's remarks, such as comments that "I am not going to jump when they tell me to jump," were inappropriate. "I was totally amazed," McKnight said.
But others, including teacher Cassie Carter, said Christmas-Reed made some joking comments that served to let off steam.
"When you are upset, sometimes things come out that are not real," Carter said. "I don't think it was sincere from the heart."
Christmas-Reed has worked for the district 21/2 years, starting as assistant principal of Greenwood Middle School and becoming principal of Davis in October 2002. She is 41, married and the mother of three children ages 14, 18 and 19. The family lives in Cleveland, where she grew up. She travels 45 miles each day to her job at Davis.
Christmas-Reed said she holds a bachelor's degree in business education from Mississippi Valley State University. She earned a master's degree in school psychology, an education specialist degree in administration and supervision and a doctorate in education, all from Delta State University. She received her Ph.D in May 2004.
She has had jobs outside education that included managing Money Tree Financial Services in Greenwood from 1986-1990 and serving as regional director from 1995-1997 of a multiple-county welfare-to-work program based in Mound Bayou.
She has taught in elementary and high schools and at Coahoma Community College. She was principal of Leflore County's T.Y. Fleming Elementary School in Minter City for a year and then took the position at Greenwood Middle School.
At Davis, she oversees 560 students and a faculty and staff including 40 teachers and 15 teacher assistants. Christmas-Reed said her main duty is to "ensure the teaching and learning process."
The district's financial officer, Steve Loden, testified Wednesday that he once transferred $8,000 into an account for which Christmas-Reed is responsible because it was overdrawn. After claims were paid and with the addition of the extra money, approximately $3,500 remained. Some of the money was being held for student activities.
He also said he became concerned and contacted Christmas-Reed when, early in the school year, she spent $11,000 on instructional supplies, leaving $500 remaining for the rest of the year.
She said Thursday that the money was used to expand a program that had produced "outstanding" results. The "Sing, Spell, Read, Write" curriculum had been taught to kindergarten students in 2003-2004, and 80 percent of the school's kindergartners were reading by that December, Christmas-Reed said.
"The program was highly successful. We were producing readers in kindergarten."
This year, the program was expanded to include the second grade,where students were having trouble with fluency. Now, she said, "they are reading fluently. We are getting to that point."
She also addressed other complaints. She said she misunderstood state regulations when she provided a letter with news of Davis' Level 5 accreditation rating to Greenwood Mayor Harry Smith on Aug. 13. The information was still supposed to be kept secret, but a state-issued timeline appeared to give the release date as Aug. 13. The information was actually embargoed for Sept. 2. "I thought the 13th was the day the results were released," she said.
Christmas-Reed explained why she submitted a claim for $82.50 in travel expenses for a meeting that had been canceled. She said she never talked with Alyce Horton, who works for a state Legislative committee. Horton testified by affidavit that she had spoken to Christmas-Reed by telephone and told her about the cancellation on Nov. 16, 2004, a day before the meeting. The principal offered an explanation, saying any number of people at Davis routinely answer the phone.
Christmas-Reed had been asked by state Rep. May Whittington to speak to a subcommittee about how Davis had reached its Level 5 accreditation status, and the superintendent had approved the trip.
Christmas-Reed said she and her husband drove from Cleveland to Jackson and roamed around the Capitol's second floor, trying to find the meeting. Eventually, someone told them the Legislature was in special session.
Several witnesses provided testimony in Christmas-Reed's favor.
Former Greenwood High School Principal Leroy Byars, now a teacher at a parochial school in Greenville, said he retired from the public education system on June 30, 2002, rather than face the non-renewal of his contract. He said Pulley had given him "a list of things I had to respond to" in October 2001. He called the list "nitpicky."
"Pressure was being put on me," he said, explaining that it would have been better if the administration had "let me alone and let me run my school like I was supposed to be able to do." He said he was "accused of some things, and I really didn't accept them."
Christmas-Reed's attorney, Bennie Jones of West Point, asked, "Did you feel like you were being micromanaged?" and Byars said, "Yes."
Several teachers praised Christmas-Reed. Carter called her a "very effective, energetic, motivational leader. She's the type of person who really knows how to get the job done."
Children love Christmas-Reed, Carter said. They write her letters that are read over the school's intercom. Christmas-Reed rewards achievement with gifts, plus "she does a lot of high fives, and 'you can do it.'"
Carter said that while teachers grumbled in 2003-2004 when Christmas-Reed made changes such as relocating their classrooms, they were "just elated" by the school's Level 5 achievement.
But morale has dropped since Christmas-Reed received the non-renewal notice. "We are doing our best to hold on," Carter said. However, "it's affecting everybody."
Carter said Christmas-Reed ought to be allowed to remain. "The students love her. The staff supports her. I think it would make a positive difference."
