Schools superintendent urged to spend his summer on a listening tour after Reagan Middle School fallout

GAINESVILLE — After a former Reagan Middle School Principal was transferred following allegations of bullying, the way the school division announced the move has now sparked as much or more controversy as the original bullying allegations.

Alfie Turner, a Prince William County school administrator whose worked at Coles Elementary, Potomac Middle, and most recently Reagan Middle School was reassigned to public schools headquarters in the human rescues office the following staff and parent and teacher allegations that she bullied them.

Parents and teachers have praised the move, and elected officials appear to also support it. The reassignment was announced in a letter by Bill Bixby, a Prince William schools associate superintendent, stated parents and teachers banned together and used the power of social media and the news media to oust the principal because they were resistant to change.

Those words angered parents, teachers, and elected officials who accused the school division of chastising those who filed formal complaints against Turner.

“It was a not a letter for everyone to see,” said Prince William resident Susan Etheridge at a county school board meeting on May 2. “I was appalled the blame was put back on the teachers and the parents.”

Prince William County Supervisor Peter Candland, who has no seat over the school board, took the unusual step of inserting his office in the matter and will hold a public forum at 7:30 p.m. Monday, May 14 at Reagan Middle School. He’ll address the concerns of constituents in his district, who contacted his office to take issue with the letter. 

Candland, in his own letter to the school division, states he supports the decision to move Turner but decried the school division’s methods.

So did many on the school board, with many sayings the letter was everything to disrespectful of the teachers and parents who complained about Turner, do downright “tone deaf.”

“This letter was like Pouring gasoline on hot embers, someone ends up getting burned,” said Brentsville District School Board member Gill Trenum.

Gainesville District member Alyson Satterwhite now wants School Superintendent Dr. Steven Walts to spend his summer on a community listening tour, where he’ll meet with concerns parents and teachers in the name of building better relationships with the community.

“We seem to have a disconnect when it comes to [school] division culture and respect,” said Satterwhite.

Walts was invited but will not attend the May 14 meeting at Reagan Middle School because the topic of discussion is a personnel matter, legally regulated to close session meetings of the school board, said Diana Gulotta, a school division spokeswoman.

School Board members Justin Will (Potomac District) and Loree Williams (Woodbridge District) said on May 2 that public meetings are not the appropriate forum to discuss personnel issues. Williams urged the school division use this as a “learning experience” when handling personnel matters in the future.

Reagan Middle School is located at 15801 Tanning House Place in Gainesville.