Attorney for demoted Highlands principal says client was targeted by superintendent

A Highlands School District principal demoted to the teacher ranks last year has requested that personnel hearings on the demotion be held in public, her attorney said.

Samantha Perlik’s first hearing before the school board is scheduled to start at 4:30 p.m. Monday at the district administration center in Highlands High School in Harrison.

The school board transferred Perlik from principal of the district’s Early Childhood Center to elementary teacher in September 2020.

At the same time, the board had approved a statement of charges against an employee identified then as “#4277.” The district denied a Right-to-Know request by the Tribune-Review for the employee’s name, but it is now known that employee was Perlik.

Perlik wants to be restored to her position as principal and is willing to accept other principal assignments made available to her, according to her attorney, Charlie Steele. She is seeking back pay.

Steele said Perlik was targeted by Superintendent Monique Mawhinney.

“We intend to prove that Dr. Mawhinney targeted Ms. Perlik by imposing arbitrary and capricious demands on her,” Steele said. “The evidence will demonstrate that Dr. Mawhinney made key mistakes in building her case against Ms. Perlik.”

Neither Mawhinney nor district spokeswoman Jennifer Goldberg responded to requests for comment.

Mawhinney started at Highlands as assistant superintendent in April 2018 and formally became superintendent, replacing Michael Bjalobok, in April 2019 after serving for a time as substitute superintendent.

Perlik has worked at Highlands since 1997. She taught kindergarten at what was formerly known as Grandview Elementary for 13 years and then at Fawn Primary Center for six years. She became assistant principal of Grandview in 2016 and then principal of Fawn in February 2018. When Fawn closed at the end of the 2018-19 school year, she returned to the elementary school, renamed Highlands Elementary, as principal. She was transferred to principal of the Early Childhood Center in January 2020.

After her demotion last year, Perlik first went on sabbatical and is now on unpaid leave, Steele said.

Steele provided a copy of the district’s charges against Perlik. They state she was placed on a “formal growth plan” in December 2019 because of failing to communicate with parents and the district administration and meet required deadlines.

It said she failed to show meaningful improvement, including meeting timelines in the plan, improving communication with parents and the administration and meeting performance expectations.

The charges said she gave a temporary employee a satisfactory rating despite not completing required observations and evaluations. They said that at the start of the 2019-20 school year, she allowed Early Childhood Center teachers to use a lesson plan template that differed from what had been agreed upon by the district administration and the Highlands Education Association and was in direct opposition to the administration’s directive.

Perlik was given an unsatisfactory rating for the third quarter of the 2019-20 school year and was reprimanded in February 2019 for failing to complete teacher observations and walk-throughs. She was rated as failing on her last performance evaluation for the 2019-20 school year.

Steele said Perlik has strong defenses to the charges, which is why they want the hearing open to the public.

“Highlands is the only school district Ms. Perlik has ever worked for,” Steele said. “Up until Dr. Mawhinney arrived at Highlands, she was a successful teacher and school administrator, receiving praise from her superiors and parents for her skillful and caring service to her students, colleagues and community members.”

Steele said the district will present its case against Perlik at Monday’s hearing. The defense will present its case at a second hearing Sept. 8.

“We hope the decision will be unbiased and they’ll be open-minded about the evidence they’ll receive and give us a fair hearing,” Steele said.