GOSHEN -- The new principal of St. John the Evangelist Catholic School was fired from Bremen Public Schools in February 2008 for actions the district determined to be immoral.
Amy Weidner took over as principal of St. John this year. She previously worked as vice principal of Bremen Elementary School, where the BPS board of trustees canceled her contract after she sent a fake letter concerning a student and the student's parents.
The Elkhart Truth was provided copies of BPS documents concerning the cancellation of Weidner's contract. The sender requested to remain anonymous, and BPS superintendent Russ Mikel declined to discuss their content. The documents include findings of fact from the board and a letter from Mikel to Weidner on BPS letterhead. Their contents were corroborated by news agencies last February.
According to the documents, in November 2007 Weidner composed an anonymous letter about the parents of a student seeking additional services for their child. The letter contained untruths and misspellings to disguise the author and was crafted in a way to make it seem it had been sent from outside the school district.
The letter included threats were made to turn the parents in to the "county child department." According to the documents contact was made with the Marshall County Department of Child Services and "the situation was reported."
In the BPS documents the board stated that Weidner's deceit was compounded by a meeting she took with the student's parents and Tracy Tredway, then-principal of Bremen Elementary-Middle School, to discuss the issues raised in the letter.
Later in the month Weidner admitted to Tredway and the parents that she had written the letter. But the documents state that after admitting to writing the letter, Weidner contacted a therapist to ask whether the issues the student was dealing with were the result of family issues. Weidner told the therapist she was following up on an anonymous letter that had been sent.
On Feb. 19 2008, the BPS board terminated Weidner's contract for "immorality and other good and just cause," according to the documents.
Requests for comment from Weidner and Father Christopher Smith, pastor of St. John Church, were referred to the Catholic Diocese of Fort Wayne/South Bend. The Diocese of Fort Wayne/South Bend issued a statement Friday evening.
"Available information on each candidate's academic credentials, professional experience, and personal background are sought out and carefully reviewed prior to a decision being made on the candidate's suitability. Central to the decision making process when hiring a principal for a diocesan school are the candidate's standing as a practicing Catholic, character, and ability to serve as a role model for all those within the school. This process was utilized when selecting the current principal of St. John the Evangelist School in Goshen," the statement said.
On Friday afternoon The Truth received an unsolicited phone call from Lloyd Cabiness, former principal of Bremen Elementary-Middle School. Cabiness said he had recommended Weidner for employment at BPS and St. John School. Weidner relates well to children, he said, is sensitive to their needs and works to help teachers meet those needs.
Cabiness said the situation at Bremen would have been handled differently had he still been principal when it occurred. He said he wasn't completely certain how he would have handled it, but that it would have been managed discreetly, and while there would be consequences, Weidner would not have been fired.