Norfolk principal reassigned after fetus-doll flap

NORFOLK

A grade-school principal who was put on leave in May after a staffer distributed models of fetuses to students is being reassigned as an assistant principal at a different school.

Oakwood grade school Principal Sheila Tillett Holas will start this fall as assistant principal at Camp Allen Elementary School.

Holas, who did not return a call to her home, was put on paid leave after the division was told about distribution of the lifelike 4-inch models of fetuses. The division, which considered the figurines unauthorized material, found that a guidance counselor had given out 80 to 100 of them, which came with a pro-life message.

Interim Superintendent Michael Spencer said Thursday that the division's central administration recommended Holas' reassignment, and the School Board approved the move in June.

Holas led Oakwood for four of her 15 years with the Norfolk school division. In 2009, she won the U.S. Department of Education's Terrel H. Bell Award for Outstanding School Leadership.

In a letter and chronology she sent to the board last month, Holas said she told the staffer last fall to stop supplying students with the models. She said she was unaware until this spring that the employee had continued to distribute the fetuses.

Holas said she told Spencer, whose regular position is chief operations officer, about the dolls and that he advised holding off on action, according to her chronology.

Spencer declined on Thursday to say whether Holas' new assignment was a demotion.

"What we see in Ms. Holas is an education professional who has some good qualities. She did get some great results in the Oakwood school," he said. The Camp Allen post is "a role I think she can excel in."

Milton Greene, who ended a term as Oakwood PTA president in June, said he backed the board's decision.

"She did great with the students; she did a good job while she was there," he said. "At the same time, we're getting a lot of press we really don't need, and the kids, they hear about it. It affects them, they know what's going on."

Earlier this year, some Oakwood teachers told the state that Holas promoted prayer in the school with staff and students. The state referred the allegations to the division, which determined that no rules had been broken.

A division-sponsored workplace survey at Oakwood found that most respondents said they had been asked to participate in prayer or Bible study, and most said the invitation came from Holas.

One respondent noted: "Yes, by e-mail from Ms. Holas. Ms. Holas' pastor came to faculty meeting, first Friday of school, prior to kids' return. He explained that the teachers were doing God's work. Jewish teacher walked out."

Division spokeswoman Elizabeth Thiel Mather said she had no update on the status of the Oakwood guidance teacher who distributed the dolls, who'd also been put on administrative leave with pay.

She said Holas' leave period ended on July 1, when the reassignment to Camp Allen became effective.

Steven G. Vegh, (757) 446-2417, steven.vegh@pilotonline.com