KENDALLVILLE, Ind. (WANE) The resignation of the principal at East Noble Middle School has sparked outrage from both students and parents, resulting in a protest of sorts at the school Thursday morning and the creation of a change.org petition.
In a Facebook post from Wednesday morning, Andrew Deming explains the reasoning behind his resignation, which is effective at the end of the school year and his long association with the East Noble school system.
For 33 years I have been tied to East Noble. As a student, a multi-sport athlete, a coach of three different sports, a math teacher, an assistant principal, an athletic director, and building principal for the last 10 years; East Noble has always been my home.
Andrew Deming – from Facebook
He goes on to talk about the transition from the previous superintendent Ann Linson, to the current one, Dr. Teresa Gremaux and that he didn’t think Gremaux was a good fit for the district. He accuses Gremaux of the following.
I have been told on several occasions that I do not build relationships with students, and recently that I do not build relationships with “low social-economic” students. This is solely based on a speculation and assumption from talking to a few upset parents. The superintendent has been at the middle school building two to three times this entire school year and has yet to see me interact with students and the love I pour into them. The degrading comments and statements I have received from her in regards to my “why” is a deciding factor on me resigning sooner than expected.
Andrew Deming – from Facebook
WANE 15 reached out to Gremaux for a comment. This is her response.
“We appreciate Mr. Deming’s years of service to the district. He has been an important part of East Noble for many years and is appreciated for his leadership. We are disappointed by his resignation and again saddened when declined an offer to rescind his resignation. He will be missed by staff, students, and parents. We wish him nothing but the best for his future.”
Teresa Gremaux, Ph.D. East Noble School Corporation Superintendent
On Thursday morning, students staged a protest inside the school. One person sent the following video of the gathering by students.
Parents also stressed their concerns about Deming’s resignation.
“For your school systems you want to be able to bring people and sell them on Kendallville, to have this type of a black eye on our community I think we are really just asking school board members to take a look into it,” said Brett Slone, a concerned parent.
A change.org petition has also been created asking for Gremaux’s resignation. It currently has more than 1800 signatures.
