Head Turkey Resigns

...Well, maybe it would've been more accurate to say, "Head Pilgrim Resigns", but that headline wouldn't have been so attention-getting.

Recently the Indian tom-toms carried the message that Tim Northrop, principal of Condit Elementary School, had quit effective June 30. For some reason, this was not picked up on the John and Ken show on KFI so it took awhile for the news to make it to us.

Readers will recall that Northrop's school was the "Pilgrim" school and the "Indians" at Mountain View School marched up for a Thanksgiving feast last November. The protests, instigated by Mountain View parent Michelle Raheja, made national news and were the top item on the Drudge Report for a day. See here, with links to most of the coverage we saw.

The Daily Bulletin Claremont Now blog gave a brief rundown last week on Northrop's decision. Read it for an extract of his letter. The whole "family responsibilities" excuse is a little threadbare, but he goes on to gusset it with a little story about his life being baseball, et cetera, et cetera, which at least gives him a C+ for originality.

In related news last week the Courier reported Saturday that the school district has brought forth another "district advisory committee" which is usually cover for getting community buy-in for decisions that have already been taken. This is the Committee that Superintendent David Cash promised last Fall to review district policies et cetera et cetera RE: "Cultural Activities". The Courier provided a list of the 19-member committee. And whaddya know? Michelle Raheja is on it, as well as a couple of local professional activists. No worries though, CUSD employees constitute a solid majority (shown in italics, based upon the best information we have) :

Parent/Community
Leslie Corcoran
Marian Gerecke
Siobhan McVeigh
Socorro Pantoja
Michelle Raheja (right)
Alfonso Villanueva
James Wilbur

Student
Wesley Chang
Ana Tinker Valle

Elementary Staff
Patti Amaya
Karen Kellner
Diane Rus
Kim Sapienza

Secondary Staff
Mike Callahan
Sue Hensley

Claremont Faculty Assn
Ann Hardy

Administrative Staff
Steve Boyd
Judy Daley
Mike Lawshe