After months of silence, Cloverdale district releases information about principal’s suspension

For nearly six months, the Cloverdale school district has remained silent about why a popular middle school principal was placed on indefinite paid leave.

For his part, the principal, Mark Lucchetti, also remained silent.

But now, both sides -- and others -- are talking, at least to some extent.

Last week, the district released a letter from school board president Jacque Garrison stating that Lucchetti was placed on leave in late February following allegations he failed to properly investigate accusations from female students about the behavior of a male PE teacher.

The board’s letter, sent to news outlets and posted on the district’s website, marked the first public explanation of what officials contend led to the disciplinary action against Lucchetti, a 27-year administrator and teacher whose departure sparked an uproar among supportive parents and teachers. They've pressed the district to explain its actions ever since.

Last spring, students staged two walkouts in support of Lucchetti, and when a fight and an ensuing discipline issue roiled the campus, parents took to social media to argue the problems never would have happened if Lucchetti were still in charge.

According to the district’s letter last week, the controversy began when a counselor at Washington Middle School told Superintendent Betha MacClain in late February that Lucchetti had failed to thoroughly investigate student reports of “inappropriate touching and leering” by a male physical education teacher at the school.

Under California’s Child Abuse and Neglect Reporting Act, educators are required to report such conduct. According to the district’s letter, MacClain found no evidence that Lucchetti filed such a report.

Two days after the counselor approached MacClain, the district “took appropriate remedial action pending an investigation,” according to the letter, and placed Lucchetti on administrative leave with pay.

The letter also confirmed that there is an ongoing police investigation into the case, though it provided no details.

However, the mother of the daughter who reported the initial allegations told The Press Democrat on Monday that she believes Lucchetti handled the situation appropriately.

On March 3, the mother emailed MacClain to follow up on a phone call they had two days prior.

In the email, the mother, whose name is being withheld by The Press Democrat to protect her daughter’s privacy, said her daughter was in the girls’ locker room at the end of a seventh-period weight training class on Feb. 16. She had just finished changing clothes when a male PE teacher opened the door to let several female students in.

This made the daughter uncomfortable, “because if he had come in a few minutes earlier he would have saw me changing,” according to the email, which was provided to The Press Democrat by the mother.

About a week later, the daughter met with a school counselor to discuss the incident, according to the email.

The mother said her daughter told the counselor that going forward she wanted the male teacher to give female students the keys to the locker room instead of unlocking it himself, a practice used by another male PE teacher.

Following that meeting, the girl’s parents asked the school to change its locker room protocols to ensure the incident would not be repeated. According to the mother’s email to MacClain, the school made the requested changes.

“We were satisfied with the outcome and did not think (the PE teacher) had done anything with ill intentions,” the mother said in her email. “...we were very satisfied with how Mr. Lucchetti handled the situation initially and also how quickly he took action once he was informed.”

The mother told MacClain she believed the PE teacher’s behavior was “clearly an accident and no foul was intended.” She confirmed to The Press Democrat on Monday that she still believes this to be true.

After he was placed on leave, Lucchetti filed a complaint against MacClain, over her handling of the episode.

The district in turn hired an “independent professional investigator to conduct a thorough investigation,” according to last week’s district letter.

According to the letter, the district’s investigation, which concluded in June, found that nearly all of Lucchetti’s claims against MacClain had no merit. The only allegation against MacClain the investigation substantiated, according to the letter, was that she did not provide an annual evaluation review of her staff during the pandemic.

The inquiry, by a former police investigator, occurred between March and May, and “all parties cooperated,” according to the district.

Lucchetti, in texts and emails to The Press Democrat, disputed that his actions constituted any “substantial” breach of his responsibilities as principal.

He has filed a lawsuit against the district, saying the initial complaint regarding the PE teacher “was not substantial in nature and contained trivial allegations.”

“I informed Superintendent MacClain the same day I found out about the incident,” Lucchetti said in an email. “I told her everything I found out, including who I interviewed, what was said, and what I thought. We talked from four to six times about this over the course of about a week...We also discussed a Child Protective Services report and she said she felt it was not warranted (which I agreed). I strongly believe now that she was setting me up...She is a mandated reporter as well, so if in fact a report should have been made she is just as responsible as I am.”

Garrison, the school board president, disputed Lucchetti’s account.

“Mr. Lucchetti's statements do not reflect the facts, as determined by a neutral investigator,” she said in an email to The Press Democrat. “Unfortunately, I cannot share the investigative summaries or report at this time.”

MacClain declined to comment.

“When the matter is fully resolved, I am confident the facts will support the District’s actions and I will be able to provide comment at that time,” she said in a statement. “In the meantime, I must continue to adhere to the law and maintain the safety and confidentiality of students and staff,” she said, adding that, “All that I can say is that the statement from Mr. Lucchetti is not accurate.”

The board did not say whether the reported misbehavior of the male PE teacher at the school was substantiated.

District officials also would not comment on whether there had been any previous issues with Lucchetti or the PE teacher.

“The investigation is ongoing, so we cannot share this information,” Garrison said in an email. The district included no other details about the investigation’s findings into conduct by the PE teacher, its effect on students, or any resulting disciplinary decisions.

The district investigation did, however, trigger a report to state education authorities.

“On June 14, based on the investigator’s findings, the CUSD Board of Trustees directed the superintendent to comply with the legal requirement to report misconduct on the part of a middle school counselor, middle school PE teacher, and middle school principal to the California Commission on Teacher Credentialing,” last week’s district letter said.

The letter did not specify any findings about the counselor. Garrison declined to provide more information, citing confidentiality.

“All employees impacted by the investigations received letters that detail which allegations against them were sustained and the facts upon which they were sustained,” Garrison said in an email. “The investigative report is part of an ongoing case, so I cannot share more details.”

“There are two separate investigations,” she said in an email. “One is the CUSD investigation into complaints. The other is an investigation by law enforcement based on what came out of the CUSD investigation findings.”

Cloverdale Police Chief Jason Ferguson confirmed to The Press Democrat that his agency is conducting an investigation into the matter, but would provide no details.

Meanwhile, Lucchetti remains on paid leave.

“On August 9, 2022, my union representative informed me that I will remain on paid administrative leave indefinitely,” Lucchetti wrote in a complaint of misconduct against MacClain, which he submitted to the California Commission on Teacher Credentialing. “Although the District (has)] not initiated any formal disciplinary action, the District paid my full principal salary from February 20, 2022-June 30, 2022. The District also had to pay for a replacement administrator. Currently, the District will pay my full teaching salary indefinitely.”

The Press Democrat filed a public records request in July for Lucchetti’s employment records.

When the district informed Lucchetti it intended to release them, Lucchetti sued the district to halt the release of records and was granted a temporary restraining order.

The lawsuit is ongoing, with a court date set for Sept. 21. The district is fighting the suit.

Lucchetti_Vs_CloverdaleDistrict_082622_filing.pdf

Correction: This story has been updated to correct the name of the agency that is investigating the case.

You can reach Staff Writer Elena Neale-Sacks at elena.neale-sacks@pressdemocrat.com. On Twitter @elenaneale17.