Small crowd gathers in South Paris to request MSAD 17 superintendent resign

Sue Parsons, left, talks to Richard Damon during a rally Sunday to show support for Maine School Administrative District 17 teachers, students and community members. Parsons is a retired Oxford Hills ed tech and Damon is a 1982 graduate of the school. Andree Kehn/Sun Journal

SOUTH PARIS — Nearly a dozen parents, students and other community members gathered Sunday in front of Oxford Hills Comprehensive High School to call for the resignation of the school district’s superintendent.

“We came here just to show our support and gather the community together in hopes (of) getting the superintendent permanently gone,” Alexa Baumgardner said. “A bunch of people reached out to us and said, ‘Hey can you start a peaceful protest for students and parents?’ So that is our goal.”

The group was composed of members from the Viking Voices community page on Facebook, a page Baumgardner and Alexa Mann started.

Aside from the larger goal, the group said it sought to have Riley Chickering, the former seventh-grade boys basketball coach, reinstated after he was fired by the superintendent because some students did not wear masks during games.

Protesters held posters as automobiles drove past the freshly shoveled sidewalks of Main street in South Paris. The messages on the signs ranged from outrage to expressing affection for the current principal, Theodore Moccia.

“(Moccia) has saved so many kids in this school district. He has taken kids in. So many kids have said if it wasn’t for him, they would never be where they are today,” said Sue Parsons, a retired teacher. “He is the most wonderful man.”

Tensions have been high since Jan. 11, when 27 complaints were leveled against Monica Henson, including allegations of a physical altercation with an elementary school student in September, and inappropriate behavior with staff members, such as sharing personal information and unfair disciplinary methods towards students.

Joanna Gomes and her daughter, Lea, 17, join a rally Sunday in front of Oxford Hills Comprehensive High School in South Paris. The rally, organized by Viking Voices, is to show support for Maine School Administrative District 17 teachers, students and community members. Lea is a junior at the high school. Andree Kehn/Sun Journal

A vote of no confidence showed 90% of staff members favor Henson’s removal after the Maine Education Association’s announcement Jan. 24 of eyewitness reports of abuse filed with the Maine Department of Health and Human Services.

“I’m bothered by how she covers up a lot of things that she does and she lies,” said a student who is a junior at Oxford Hills Comprehensive High School. “I’ve heard from other students that they’ve seen her walk through the halls without wearing a mask, and she’s just very intimidating to the teachers. I’ve seen how tense teachers are when she’s brought up.”

A parent of two students in the district said some of Henson’s administrative decisions have affected the resources of special needs students, including one of her children.

The parent said individualized education programs, known as IEPs, and other services, such as special testing, are being shut down.

“We’ve asked for psychological evaluations and we’re only getting them from (within the district), because they’re refusing to use outside parties who are better prepared,” the parent said. “That is a bare minimum for any school or any state. They should be getting all the resources available to them, and that’s not the case.”