A school superintendent in Paradise Valley, Arizona has stepped down after reporting that he faced harassment over remote learning. Jesse Welsh issued his formal resignation at a school board meeting on Monday afternoon, according to AZ Central. Former superintendent James Lee was named as his acting successor.
BREAKING: @pvschools governing board accepts Superintedent Dr. Jesse Welsh’s resignation. James P. Lee will be acting superintendent (he was a former sup for district.) @abc15 pic.twitter.com/Pt9mQ2Klqi
— Claudia Rupcich (@ClaudiaRupcich) December 7, 2020
The Paradise Valley Unified School District did not explain the resignation, but the move follows reports of recent harassment against Welsh. His resignation was anticipated by locals.
HAPPENING TODAY: Could @pvschools lose its top leader? We could know in a few hours. There’s a special meeting at 1pm to discuss possible resignation of school superintendent Dr. Jesse Welsh. He’s only been with the district about a year and a half. Started summer 2019. pic.twitter.com/zuIJrdzatD
— Maria Hechanova (@MariaHechanova) December 7, 2020
Handful of PV schools teachers protesting Dr. Jesse Welsh’s resignation today as a board meeting to decide the resignation goes on inside, behind closed doors in exec session pic.twitter.com/DEF9ckjdoH
— Lily Altavena🌵 (@lilyalta) December 7, 2020
Parents, teachers, and staff told ABC15 in a Saturday report that Welsh was stepping down because some parents engaged in “disturbing behavior” when seeking in-person teaching.
“Dr. Welsh and his family have been the targets of harassment and threatening behavior, both at their home and their children’s school,” a source said.
Welsh declined to comment in this story.
Photos showed signs dumped in his yard.
The Phoenix Police Department reportedly got at least two calls since September regarding harassment at Welsh’s home. Law&Crime followed up with Phoenix police; a spokesperson told us there was two calls for the same incident, which was reported as harassment.
[Screengrab via AZ family]
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