Mar 12, 2008

Former Willard vice principal resigns

Margaret Lowry cleared from wrongdoing allegations

By Doug Oakley / Daily News Staff writerBy Katy Murphy / Bay Area News Group

A Berkeley middle school vice principal cleared of wrongdoing after she was investigated for "heavy-handed use of authority and cutting corners on due process" has resigned.

Willard Middle School Vice Principal Margaret Lowry was placed on administrative leave in February, then transferred to other district jobs.

Lowry's name appears on a regular list of resignations the school board will approve at its meeting today.

Berkeley Unified School District Superintendent William Huyett and school board President John Selawsky confirmed that Lowry will leave the district at the end of the school year.

"It wasn't a forced resignation or anything like that," Selawsky said. "It was her choice."

Lowry was cleared of any wrongdoing, Selawsky said.

"The investigation concluded she didn't put any child in harm's way, and the allegations are basically unsubstantiated," Selawsky said. "So the allegations from our point of view are inaccurate."

Selawsky said the investigation included following through with parent and staff complaints at Willard. Previously, he said the investigation of Lowry stemmed from parent complaints about her use of authority and issues of due process, but neither he nor Huyett would elaborate on the incidents that allegedly took place last spring.

Lowry, who worked at Willard about two years, was unavailable for comment.

The district originally transferred Lowry to a vice principal job at the Berkeley Adult School, then moved her into a non-school summer program, Selawsky said.

"I believed it was in her best interest to have a fresh start," Selawsky said of Lowry's transfer from the middle school.

Lowry's departure "is her resignation, and anything further I can't comment," Huyett said.

He said his staff is researching records to find out whether any parents filed formal complaints, and if so how those complaints were addressed.

"They are looking at what really is there and what isn't," Huyett said.

Thomas Orput, an administrator at the Berkeley Adult School, will take Lowry's place at Willard.



E-mail Doug Oakley at

doakley@bayareanewsgroup.com.