Former Brennan Rogers Principal Laura Roblee, who was demoted for her use of the “n‑word” and was the target of a petition by school staffers, has a new role: overseeing the district’s mentorship program for beginning teachers.
Roblee’s demotion was approved by the Board of Education (BOE) this past June.
She was reassigned to the school district central office. Her new title is TEAM & student teaching administrator. According to the NHPS website “The TEAM program engages mentors and beginning teachers in a cycle of professional growth; together they reflect on practice, identify an area of need/growth, engage in professional learning, apply the new learning, and reflect on the impact on the teacher’s practice and student outcomes.”
Roblee introduced herself to new teachers in a Wednesday email.
“I will be placing beginning teachers with a mentor to assist them in navigating the TEAM process, ensure that student teachers from our partner universities are placed with a cooperating teacher and to manage all Talent Ed log in issues,” she wrote.
Roblee is not directly mentoring teachers.
“Ms. Roblee currently operates out of the central office. Her title is assistant principal. While she will be undergoing special restorative training, she is tasked with support of the Director of Research, Evaluation in managing the Team Mentor Program. This role was vacated due to a retirement. She is neither a coach nor a mentor of teachers,” schools spokesperson Justin Harmon wrote in an emailed comment for this article.
Emily Hays Photo
Goldson: “I don’t know how you became a mentor after what went down .”
Board of Education member Darnell Goldson called the new assignment a “slap in the face.” He said teachers have contacted him with concerns about the reassignment.
Goldson said he believes in restorative practices and second chances, but in tandem with adequate retraining. “Right now her overall negative experience should preclude her from being a mentor to new teachers,” he argued. “It’s frustrating that someone accused of being a negative influence to almost a whole school can now become mentor for other teachers.”
On Wednesday Goldson emailed Tracey asking about the new placement of Roblee. As of noon on Thursday had received no response back. He added that he hopes to get an update from Tracey on whether or not Roblee has been received restorative training for the new role. “If you have someone that went to jail for theft you don’t hire them as a teller in a a bank,” Goldson said.
“It’s like a slap in our face. Had they done the additional investigation into the other alleged complaints made about her leadership we wouldn’t be here. But we don’t have an investigation to confirm or deny it,” he said. “They should err on the side that is beneficial to the whole, to the masses.”
Tracey did not respond to a request for comment for the article by the time it was published.
Ex-Principal Laura Roblee.
After Roblee’s demotion several community members, educators, and BOE members called for a more transparent investigation into racial slur incident and other alleged negative incidents that occurred while Roblee was in charge. The community also called for a public apology directly from Roblee; Roblee released a letter that schools Superintendent Iline Tracey read at at June press conference.
In response to the incident and public outcry for a through investigation into the Roblee’s actions over 30 Brennan-Rogers teachers, paraprofessionals, custodians and other staff wrote a letter concerning the BOE handling of the incident.
New Haveners also gathered for rallies and protests against the district’s investigation into the complaint and public support offered to the school community after.
Introductory Email Message
The full text of Roblee’s Wednesday email message follows:
Good Afternoon Teachers,
I hope that your first few days with students have been awesome. I am reaching out to introduce myself and provide some information regarding the TEAM Program and TEAM Mentor Training.
I am in the Research and Assessment Department on the Fourth Floor of 54 Meadow Street. I will be placing beginning teachers with a mentor to assist them in navigating the TEAM process, ensure that student teachers from our partner universities are placed with a cooperating teacher and to manage all Talent Ed log in issues. If you have any questions, please feel free to reach out.
I have attached the first TEAM Talk Newsletter that all teachers and mentors will be able to reference throughout the year with valuable information and links.
The newsletter has all the information regarding the TEAM program for beginning teachers, the link to sign up for the September 15 new teacher mandatory training and TEAM Mentor Training for all those teachers that are interested in becoming certified as a Mentor and Cooperating Teacher.
Mentor teachers, if you have any new teachers in your building that have not heard from a mentor, and you would like to serve as their mentor, please reach out to me and we can make the connection. We have many new teachers and are in the process of confirming certifications and placing them with a mentor. Any help would be greatly appreciated. If you are not TEAM certified and are interested, please see the newsletter for details.
Laura