Parents to DCPS: Reinstate Payne Elementary School Principal

Payne Elementary School parents are demanding the reinstatement of their principal, who wasn’t reappointed for the 2015-2016 school year.

Vielka Scott-Marcus this summer is slated to step down as the principal of the Hill East school, which she has led since 2008. D.C. Public Schools has yet to announce who will succeed her at the 1445 C St. SE school.

A petition started earlier this month to keep Scott-Marcus as principal has garnered more than 1,000 backers. Payne parent Walter Pennington, who started the petition, said Scott-Marcus is a “beloved” member of the school’s community.

“We felt the job she is doing is a tremendous one,” said Pennington, who has two children at the school.

A DCPS spokesman didn’t have an immediate comment.

DCPS has yet to say publicly what led to her dismissal. But Pennington said problems with Payne’s test scores are to blame.

Although he acknowledged that the scores have “room to improve,” Pennington praised Scott-Marcus for diversifying a school that had very few students who weren’t black when she started as principal.

“She’s done a good job of unifying and making it a diverse community,” he said.

Pennington and other parents will hold a town hall meeting tomorrow at Payne to “demand that [DCPS] Chancellor [Kaya] Henderson seek greater public input and provide more transparency regarding decisions that impact children in DC public schools,” according to a news release.

The meeting, scheduled for 6 p.m., is expected to draw more than 100 parents and students.

Photo via Change.org/Walter Pennington