Yesterday, in the comments below, we discovered that the Dallas ISD had summoned some of its principals and executive directors to 3700 Ross for what was described as an "emergency meeting." Last night, I found out why from a Friend of Unfair Park doing some volunteer work for the DISD: District officials fired Cynthia Goodsell, a senior executive director who, in June 2009, was tapped to head the West Secondary Learning Community. Before this school year started she was moved to the North Secondary Learning Community in a restructuring, which put her in charge of Bryan Adams, Hillcrest, Thomas Jefferson, White and Woodrow, among others.
I've been trying since last night to find out why Goodsell was let go. After all, it wasn't so long ago that the district hailed the 30-plus-year veteran as "a visionary educator and administrator" when handing her the district's Principal of the Year award in 2009, when she was still at Bryan Adams, where Goodsell had been in charge since '06. (Sam spoke to her in '08 for this cover story on electronically monitoring students.) I asked district spokesman Jon Dahlander via email: Was it a budget issue, as I'd been told, or something else? And why would the district get rid of someone so highly valued just two years ago?
Moments ago, Dahlander sent this statement:
Similar to hundreds of central staff positions that were eliminated this past spring, the position of North Secondary Learning Community senior executive director has been eliminated effective immediately. School principals in the North Secondary Learning Community will now report to Dorothy Gomez-interim division executive-secondary schools division. As this is a matter involving personnel, it will not be discussed further.
