A South Bend executive is transferred after an HR investigation. Here’s what we know.

SOUTH BEND – The South Bend Community School Corp. human resources survey. (SBCSC) to Jesus Pedraza, a former elementary school principal placed on leave, has ended with a recommendation that he be reassigned.

Pedraza will have the opportunity to address the SBCSC school board during a closed session at 5:30 PM on Monday, September 30, at the location of the district’s new headquarters, Brown Community Learning Center. This means the meeting is closed to community members and members of the press.

However, Pedraza said he would have preferred the meeting to take place during an open session during the next regular board meeting on Oct. 7.

“Then people can come out and support me,” he said. “As it is now, it will be difficult for me to convince people to come to the Brown school… before next Monday.”

Here’s what we know.

Who is Jesus Pedraza?

Pedraza said he has been with the SBCSC for more than 20 years and was principal at McKinley Elementary School for eight years. While at McKinley, he said he created the school’s Dual Language Immersion (DLI) program, which grew the student population by more than 100 students.

This school year, as a result of the districtwide consolidation project, McKinley merged with Edison Middle School to form an elementary and secondary school. Pedraza said school officials told him he would retain his position as K-5 principal along with 6-8 principal Sean Dillon. Shortly before the semester started, however, he was told that this had never been the plan and that he would become Dillon’s assistant principal; Pedraza called this a ‘demotion’.

Why was Pedraza placed on leave?

Pedraza has been on paid administrative leave since August 20, after Dillon filed an HR complaint against him alleging Pedraza engaged in workplace harassment.

‘We feel lied to’: Public concerned about former South Bend principal going on leave

According to Pedraza, Dillon volunteered to send some back-to-school newsletters “downtown” to parents, providing information about the start of school in both English and Spanish. The letters were never sent, Pedraza said, meaning several Spanish-speaking students didn’t arrive at school until the third day of classes because of confusion about when the semester started.

The HR investigation report says Pedraza called Dillon to his office on August 20 to ask why the letters were not sent, becoming “verbally aggressive, using profanity and unprofessional language, and calling colleagues in the district liars.” Pedraza denies the allegations and says that although he was upset, he did not use profanity or threaten Dillon.

Dillon filed a complaint against Pedraza that same day, beginning the HR investigation and placing Pedraza on paid leave.

What does the HR report say?

The report, dated September 16, summarizes the SBCSC HR department’s findings from the investigation.

The findings show that Pedraza was told there would be only one Edison director, and that he would not be director due to “longstanding performance deficiencies.” However, Pedraza provided documents from SBCSC officials stating the opposite, including a document sent to McKinley families by Assistant Superintendent Diamond Robinson that listed both Pedraza and Dillon as principals.

He added that the “performance gaps” refer to several issues between him and the district. Pedraza said he was written up twice by his district school leader, including because he missed a meeting to help his staff work with “an irate parent.”

Exclusive to Tribune: South Bend schools are recommending the reassignment of the popular principal to an administrative position

The report ends by recommending that Pedraza be moved from working in a school to overseeing the district’s bilingual department. Under this plan, Dillon would remain the sole Edison director and the district would replace Pedraza as assistant director.

What does the district say?

While The Tribune asked whether Superintendent Todd Cummings, Assistant Superintendent Sarita Stevens or Dillon would talk about the situation or issue a report, SBCSC officials declined to comment through a spokesperson, saying the district “does not comment on personnel matters.” The district has, however, verified the authenticity of the HR report obtained by The Tribune.

What’s next?

After the school board approves the report, Pedraza will have the opportunity to speak to the board during a private closed session on September 30. The board will then vote on whether to accept HR’s recommendation and transfer Pedraza.

The session is not listed on the district website calendar because it is not a regularly scheduled board meeting. It will be closed to community members and media.

Email Rayleigh Deaton, education reporter for the South Bend Tribune, at [email protected].

This article originally appeared on South Bend Tribune: What we know about HR investigation into former SBCSC director