Dear Taxpayers,

Are you aware that your tax dollars are being spent to defend a principal who has a pattern of discrimination and little progress in helping kids achieve higher scores as she states frequently. Her actions are no better than the Principal at Stuart, who Garza removed recently and moved to a central office job. I'm not a fan of putting bad lemons in central positions, but they do have less impact on the day to day action of our kids. People really need to stand up for this injustice, especially to our students, and not allow any further tax dollars be spent to represent and defend this person. I am new to the conversation, but I am very concerned and disappointed about this. Wow, it's unbelievable that this continues to happen in what I thought was a progressive area. Disappointed in our community principal.

What a waste of money!! We should all stand up and demand they use NO MORE $$ to defend her. Come on, they will just settle in the end. $$ grows on tress in Fairfax.

Well, FCPS has defended Principals who yelled at teachers, propositioned teachers and administrators who refused to help teachers who were being bullied by "favorites"; so I am not surprised. FCPS treats its teachers as low level slaves but higher ups can get away with just about anything. That is my experience as an FCPS employee and many, many of my colleagues.

I support of Marie Lemmon and don't like your tone of voice. Your a cruel gniggot.

^^ ok, i guess your a lemmon aide then !

I hate these PTA meetings they always go sour.

Agreed. Unfortunately, 99% of FCPS taxpayers are not paying attention to the county politics.


Why should poor administrators get central office positions? Bad eggs should be fired and replaced with competent employees.

Agree….stop adding supporting bad principals / asst. principals. And, don't move them to an "administrator" position in central.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/local/education/discrimination-lawsuit-against-va-principal-dismissed/2015/05/05/7e11a860-f35b-11e4-b2f3-af5479e6bbdd_story.html

"This issue is closed."

I liked the part about rude, abrupt, and arrogant behavior does not necessarily support the claim of a hostile work environment.

She prefers perky young blond chicks working there. Still not seeing a problem here.

Discrimination lawsuit against Va. principal withdrawn
By The Associated Press May 5, 2015 6:57 pm
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FALLS CHURCH, Va. (AP) — A discrimination lawsuit against a Fairfax County elementary school principal has been withdrawn.

Court records at the federal courthouse in Alexandria indicate that the lawsuit was dismissed last week.

Former and current school-system employees alleged sexual and racial discrimination by Marie Lemmon, the principal at Bailey’s Elementary, Fairfax County’s largest elementary school.

The plaintiffs alleged Lemmon retaliated against an assistant principal who became pregnant, and that she told multiple people she would only hire “pretty, young blondes” because they make better teachers.

A school-system spokesman and a lawyer for the plaintiffs did not respond to questions about whether any kind of financial settlement was part of the dismissal.

The school system sent a letter Tuesday to Bailey’s parents expressing support for Lemmon and her “outstanding leadership.”

Annandale Blog writer got it right……Way to Go Annandale Blog! (Be sure to read the entire article.)

The lawsuit filed by four employees of Bailey’s Elementary School against Principal Marie Lemmon charging her with discrimination and harassment has been “dismissed with prejudice.”

The suit, filed in federal court in September by former assistant principal Rachel Charlton, former teachers Yolanda Calhoun and Shyrone Stith, and former student J.C. Calhoun, claimed Lemmon and FCPS violated federal civil rights and anti-discrimination laws.

A message sent to Bailey’s families May 5 by Fabio Zuluaga, FCPS assistant superintendent for Region 2, states, the “lawsuit has been dismissed with no finding of any discrimination or inappropriate conduct by the school board or Ms. Lemmon.”

That’s not the complete story, however, according to sources close to the lawsuit who wish to remain anonymous. The case was not dismissed by the judge. In fact, the judge previously denied several FCPS requests to dismiss the case.

The plaintiffs voluntarily agreed to dismiss the case, and while it’s true there was no finding of wrongdoing on the part of Lemmon or FCPS, that’s because there was no opportunity to address wrongdoing. The litigation ended before the fact-finding phase.

FCPS wholeheartedly supported Lemmon throughout the case. “Fairfax County Public Schools and Superintendent Garza stand behind Principal Lemmon and endorse her continued, outstanding leadership and tireless work on behalf of the students of Bailey’s Elementary School,” Zuluaga’s message continues. “We are also very grateful to the Bailey’s faculty and staff for maintaining the positive focus on student learning while this issue was being resolved.”

Based on conversations with people close to the case, it is believed that the plaintiffs simply could not afford the legal costs of continuing with the lawsuit and settled out of court – although there is no official confirmation of a settlement. It’s also believed that if they say anything at all about the case, they will have to repay their settlement funds.

Stith and Yolanda and J.C. Calhoun had agreed to settle out of court months ago, but Charlton, who had the most complaints, hung on until the end of April. Five other people who had worked for Lemmon in the past had submitted letters to the court supporting the plaintiffs allegations stating that Lemmon had discriminated against them due to their race, religion, disability, or age. There were similar complaints against Lemmon when she was principal of Mount Vernon Elementary School, before her appointment at Bailey’s in November 2012.

FCPS had claimed in court that they were not legally liable for Lemmon’s actions, even if her behavior was rude and discriminatory, because they didn’t know about it. If someone in the future makes a similar complaint about Lemmon, FCPS won’t be able to make that argument because Lemmon’s alleged actions are spelled out in the court documents.

FCPS spent a huge amount of money, possibly up to $100,000, to defend Lemmon and sought a huge amount of documents from the plaintiffs, including many back years of medical records. One source calls that a “bullying tactic” and suggests that it could have a chilling effect on other potential whistleblowers with unrelated complaints against other school officials.

Charlton had formerly been on track to become a principal but is not expected to advance at FCPS and is now one of three assistant principals at Camelot Elementary School in Annandale. According to an observer, “she is being punished for trying to stand up for what was right.”

Camelot is a small school, with just 611 students. Most elementary schools of that size have just one assistant principal. Very few FCPS schools have three, even schools that are much larger. Bailey’s has three APs but that school has 1,480 students on two campuses, and well over half the students qualify for free or reduced-price lunches a majority have limited English proficiency.

“It’s ridiculous in a culturally diverse area like this that FCPS would allow this kind of discrimination to happen – and not only that but to support Marie Lemmon in such positive terms,” an observer says. “If this school had more active parents, we would have seen a different outcome.”

This whole thing boggles my mind. Little guy loooossses again. Its What happens when you go up on a big group like this. Unfortunate, but true. And, embarrassing for everyone in Fairfax all because of a bad apple.

Come on Fairfax!! Really? Again, just brushing this under the rug. Wondering what the school board members think of this whole thing?

What did this cost? How many turf fields could have been purchased? How many hours of consulting from self proclaimed experts on gender issues? How many people could have been flown to Orlando?

Corruption, financial mismanagement, dying ethics countywide.

Shame on Garza. Shame on fcps. Why anyone would want to work for fcps is beyond me. The only people who send their kids to fcps are not wealthy enough to afford private or they are plain ignorant.

Let Lemmon pay back the cost of her defense. Otherwise, Ted Velkoff will keep pushing for taxation authority, just like his Texan pet, Karen Garza.

show me the money Wrote:
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> What did this cost? How many turf fields could
> have been purchased? How many hours of consulting
> from self proclaimed experts on gender issues? How
> many people could have been flown to Orlando?


A lot.

this message brought to you by maria gonzales relative

Just wondering if we can find out how much this whole thing really cost taxpayers? Was it really this much?!! What a waste.

Just so you all know this case settled and Marie Lemmon...it cost a lot but will not be in the public record because the settlement was confidential. Also, other cases of abuse by school personnel and administrators on other teachers or employees have cost plenty. One I know cost the district nearly 200k and another is coming down the pike like it very soon. In addition, bad and unqualified administrators have been allowed to operate for a long time before anything was done and then only thing that ended up happening is "retirement" not punishment.....(i.e. Sam Newman)

Well, if they settled, then they were only out for money.

It's cheaper for the school system to settle. If Lemmon were guilty they would fire her.

Trial is a long, expensive process. Most people do not file a suit simply for the thrill of the courtroom experience. Instead, people file suit because they feel they have been wronged in some way, and they cannot find a good solution on their own. Settling a case may offer a way to avoid the expense of trial while still getting some compensation for the wrong that was committed. As far as defending parties are concerned, settling a case may also eliminate the costs of a trial and may also be a way to avoid the risk of potentially greater losses via a jury verdict. On to the Sam Newman comment... Yeah he was a cop so he was hired to keep the county out of trouble.

BITCH HAS TO GO Marie Lemmon

Is she still a principal? What does the school board say about her?

Pruitt Wrote:
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> Is she still a principal? What does the school
> board say about her?



That she was okay because she worked at a title 1 school, and she was also bleeding those days. she was pmsing and blood was coming out of eveywhere. PMSING