Did Central Gwinnett principal bend rules for son?

Her son was in trouble, and a dutiful mother used her influence to try to keep her boy from serious punishment. She was the principal and he a student at her Lawrenceville school.

Valerie Clark, an award-winning, veteran administrator, recently retired from Central Gwinnett High for “personal reasons” after directing a subordinate to bend the rules, according to a human resources investigation summary. Her actions have some parents wondering how many other school employees try to wield their clout for their kids.

“My biggest concern is how many times has this happened before and a principal or an employee has not reported it because they are afraid for their job,” said Jennifer Falk, education chairwoman for the state NAACP, who operates a watchdog group monitoring school discipline. “You have to be very, very careful about preferential treatment.”

Most metro Atlanta school districts have policies prohibiting nepotism in employment. Few have policies governing parent-student relationships on the job.

Teachers can instruct and grade their own kids. And a principal can on occasion oversee the discipline of his or her child at a school. That is what happened at Central Gwinnett High, the investigation concluded.

When an assistant principal decided students under suspicion of soliciting marijuana should face serious consequences, Clark intervened, the summary said. Clark’s son was among those facing long-term suspension, placement in an alternative school or expulsion.

Usually, a parent and child co-exist at schools without incident. However, cases of professional misconduct involving nepotism or conflicts of interest between loved ones have been investigated in recent years by the Georgia Professional Standards Commission. Clark’s case did not reach the state level.

“We have had issues where people tried to get copies of the tests for their kids or set them up in special testing situations different from what everybody else is getting,” said Gary Walker, director of the Educator Ethics Division.

John Grant, the standards commission’s chief investigator, said in one case an educator was investigated on an allegation he or she brought home a standardized test so a child could study it. “The child made a cheat sheet, and it was discovered.”

Grant said educators also have faced allegations that they punished students who had picked on their children.

“When do you move from being a teacher to a mother or a father who is trying to protect their kid?” Grant asked. “As a professional educator, you have to maintain your objectivity.”

Cobb Schools is one of the few districts with rules prohibiting conflicts of interest involving district employees and their children who are in school.

“A teacher cannot have their child or stepchild as a student,” said Doug Goodwin, a Cobb Schools spokesman. “A principal can have a child at the school. They cannot be responsible for the supervision or discipline of that student.”

Several school districts without such policies still try to set boundaries.

“Although policy doesn’t prohibit a teacher from teaching his/her child, we try to avoid that situation,” said Susan Hale, a Fulton County Schools spokeswoman. “Should a situation in the school involve the principal’s child, he or she would be removed from the decision-making process, and the assistant principal would handle it.”

In Clark’s case, things went differently. According to a witness’ statement, Clark told her assistant principal, Eric Davidson: “I’ve never asked for a favor before. … I am telling you as your principal not to take him.” Clark said her son had a violin concert that evening, and she would punish him later.

Frances Davis, Gwinnett’s human resources chief, wrote in a report that Davidson “had been directed by Dr. Clark not to send any of the students to a disciplinary panel.”

Clark said later in a statement to the AJC: “At the time I was informed by an assistant principal of the discipline situation, I did not have all the facts. As an administration, we fully investigated and took all students to a [disciplinary] panel.”

Clark, an educator since 1971, retired in January during the investigation. “I retired for personal reasons,” she said.

Sloan Roach, a Gwinnett Schools spokeswoman, would not discuss the outcome of disciplinary proceedings against the eight students, citing legal reasons. No police charges were filed.

“We are confident that the students involved received appropriate disciplinary action based on the infraction and their discipline record,” Roach said.