Garcia attributes ousting to rezoning pressure, document contends

A letter allegedly written by former Director of Schools Pedro Garcia is circulating among school board members. File

Former Director of Schools Pedro Garcia attributes his ousting in January to his “stand to oppose re-segregating the district,” according to a document allegedly penned by Garcia that has been distributed by school board Vice Chair Ed Kindall.

“I know that the situation I find myself in today, and the pressure exerted upon me by [board chair] Marsha Warden, is the direct result of my decision to fight against her desire to move the African[-]American children from the Hillwood [c]luster so she could be re-elected,” reads the document, which is dated Jan. 16 — two days before the board formally received a resignation offer from Garcia.

On Monday, Kindall told The City Paper that he, in his capacity as the board’s vice chair, received the document from Garcia in January. Though the document has been public record, Kindall said he did not distribute the document until recently.

“I did not want to create a political bomb unnecessarily,” Kindall said. “I was hoping that the issue of this rezoning could be done in a fashion that was not so racially isolating, and not so socio-economically isolating. But I see that there are people pushing it, so the public needs to know a lot of the motivation behind it, and [the] people behind it. … The public needs to be aware of the kind of tactics that are being used.”

Neither Garcia nor Warden returned City Paper calls for comment on Monday.

The document outlines rezoning-related interplay between the Metro Nashville Public Schools administration and Board of Education members in the months before Garcia’s January departure. It includes a reference to a December meeting with Warden, in which Warden allegedly told Garcia that he had lost the confidence of Mayor Karl Dean, the Nashville Area Chamber of Commerce and the school board.

Warden, in the document, is said to have met with Garcia on Dec. 12, and asked about the status of Garcia’s job application with the San Diego Unified School District. She then told Garcia that his upcoming evaluation from the school board would be “very bad,” and offered to delay the evaluation and give Garcia four months of pay if he would resign and state that he planned to return to California.

“You have lost the confidence of the Mayor, the confidence of the Chamber, and the confidence of the Board. You need to leave,” she is quoted as saying in the letter.

Garcia responded, the document says, by telling Warden he would not leave without a job unless the board bought him out of his contract. Warden answered by telling Garcia that she would “tell the Mayor” of his response, then left the office.

Dean spokesperson Janel Lacy was non-committal when asked if Dean had played a role in Garcia’s decision to leave MNPS.

“Dr. Garcia resigned. The board accepted his resignation. Mayor Dean is moving forward on improving our schools,” Lacy said.

As to why Garcia chose to scale back the rezoning plan his administration had previously proposed, the document refers to an incident Garcia publicly noted at a school board meeting. Comments in the document echo those spoken to the board, and garnered both praise from those opposed to the plan, as well as serious criticism from those who are very concerned about the Nashville students exiting the public school system.

The document states that Garcia met with the Brookmeade Elementary faculty on Nov. 5, and was told by teachers that the school should not be closed, as had been recommended by the old plan.

“They believed that after the black students presently attending Brookmeade Elementary were moved to Metro Center, … the school would be full of white students presently attending private schools,” the document reads. “I became more and more convinced the plan as presented would re-segregate Nashville and violate the spirit of the 1998 court ruling which awarded the District unitary status.”

Kindall, Thompson say document indicates improper behavior

The board is slated to discuss the latest edition of the rezoning plan at its meeting tonight. Talk of the issue will start earlier than that, as the Nashville Branch of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) plans to discuss the organization’s opposition to the plan at a news conference this morning.

School board member Mark North has said publicly that he plans to ask the board to vote on the revised plan tonight — the board’s last meeting until August. There will be only one regular board meeting after August before new school board members are sworn in.

Both Kindall and North are up for re-election and facing opposition. Warden, as well as board member George Thompson, will step down in August.

Kindall said that he may bring up the Garcia document at the meeting, if the board is “pushed” to vote. He added that he definitely will refer to allegations cited in the letter. One includes the statement that board member Steve Glover claimed, when the previous plan was proposed, to have five votes in favor of the plan in place.

School board member Thompson said Monday that he believes the document not only indicates that Warden acted outside her scope of board authority, but that if the information in the document is correct, board member Steve Glover has violated Tennessee’s “Sunshine Law.” The letter indicates Glover had discussed with other board members how they would vote. Kindall expressed similar opinions in an interview.

In response, Glover told The City Paper that the document mischaracterizes statements he had made to Garcia. While Glover says he did tell Garcia that he believed five board members would support the plan, those beliefs were based on comments made publicly at board meetings, he said. Glover added that both he and Kindall have already discussed the allegations publicly, at a board retreat, and that Glover considered the matter resolved.

“I had not talked to any board members and lined up votes. … I was basing my opinion upon comments I had heard at the table,” Glover said. “I thought we had cleared this up, but obviously Mr. Kindall has a political agenda I’m not aware of.”

Rumors attributing Garcia’s ousting to the rezoning have circulated for months. And so have rumors alleging that Garcia’s repealing of much of the rezoning plan was an attempt to curry favor with some members of the board, so as to facilitate a successful evaluation in January.

Glover is one who believes that Garcia’s attempt to stay at MNPS played a part in what transpired, behind the scenes, last winter. As for Garcia’s alleged memo being distributed now, Glover said he finds the timing “interesting.”

“We’ve all been given the task force recommendation, but because Mr. Kindall didn’t like something, he’s trying to bomb it,” Glover said.

Rezoning, DOE reorganization, to be discussed at meeting

Tonight’s school board meeting will likely be an eventful one. Connie Smith, accountability chief for the Tennessee Department of Education, is scheduled to address board members. DOE spokesperson Amanda Maynard said the state-prompted reorganization of MNPS will be discussed.

After Smith’s presentation, the revised rezoning plan will be presented for board consideration.

The meeting is scheduled for 5 p.m. at the MNPS central office, 2601 Bransford Ave.