Survey: Many Immaculate Heart of Mary Staff Members Back Outgoing Principal

Nearly half of 's staff wants outgoing principal, Tricia DeWitt, to remain in her post and believes the school's parish has mishandled the controversy surrounding her February resignation, an informal survey shows.

Of 23 faculty and staff who returned unsigned surveys to a group of parents, 21 respondents said they want DeWitt to remain principal despite her announced resignation. The survey was quietly distributed to staff about two weeks ago and was organized by parents who said they believe the parish's head, the Rev. James Schillinger, forced DeWitt from her job.

Parents collected 23 surveys, and 22 were completed and include critical testimonies from faculty and staff regarding the rift between the school and the parish on Briarcliff Road. Not all staff members were given a survey, and others declined to fill one out, organizers said. The school has 55 staff members, according to its website.

Parents who organized and distributed the survey and several teachers who said they completed them declined to speak with North Druid Hills-Briarcliff Patch on the record because they said they feared retaliation from the parish and the Atlanta archdiocese's office. DeWitt also asked staff in a March 28 email not to fill out unsanctioned surveys or comment on Internet forums about the controversy.

The survey's organizers said they plan to release the results to the school community this morning. The surveys show nearly half the staff feel they have been negatively affected by the conflict, and 17 staff members said they have considered leaving the school since DeWitt's resignation. The U.S. Department of Education named Immaculate Heart of Mary a Blue Ribbon School of Excellence in 2009. It was one of 50 private schools nationwide to earn the distinction.

"I believe IHM is a Blue Ribbon school because of the leadership of our principal. In my mind she lives the gospel every day through her words and action," one respondent wrote. "IHM will suffer without her leadership. The majority of people I have talked to are greatly saddened by the turn of events at IHM over the past few months."

Among the survey results:

• All 22 respondents said they were not satisfied with the manner in which "Father Schillinger has handled the situation at IHM."
• Twenty-one respondents said DeWitt's resignation adversely affected their morale.
• Twenty respondents said they didn't have confidence in the school's search for a new principal.
• Twenty respondents said they have experienced fear and/or anxiety for the future of their job since DeWitt's resignation.
• Twenty-two said they are comfortable working with DeWitt, but 21 said they were uncomfortable working with Schillinger.

Staff members also heavily criticized Schillinger, saying he has repeatedly reached into school operations, including the hiring of staff, and has limited DeWitt's latitude as principal – actions that they said pushed DeWitt out of the school.

Schillinger and DeWitt also reportedly quarreled over the identity of an anonymous donor who promised $1 million to the school last year. Several teachers and parents said DeWitt kept the donor's identity from Schillinger because she feared he planned to approach the donor for more money or use some of the donation for the parish.

Schillinger could not be reached for comment Sunday night and his office has directed previous questions about the dispute to the archdiocese. Pat Chivers, spokeswoman for the archdiocese, criticized the survey Sunday night but said she had not seen it and declined to comment further.

"It isn't a true reflection of how the teachers feel," she said. "They're unsigned, so you don't have anybody's name. ... It sounds like garbage to me."

DeWitt has also not responded to several interview requests from Patch. She is expected to remain principal through the end of the year, but many parents and several teachers said they believe she wants her job back and has declined to speak publicly–save for an email statement to parents–at the request of the archdiocese's office. Archdiocese officials said the school hopes to have DeWitt's replacement .

"I know that Tricia resigned because she was not allowed to do her job," one staff member wrote on a survey. "Father Schillinger took away her ability to hire people and to make simple, day-to-day decisions that clearly fall under her job description. He hired people for the school without consulting her. ... Father Schillinger empowered his appointed people to make decisions about the school."

Several other staff members said they have been disappointed with the archdiocese's response to questions about the resignation.

"I am very disappointed that the archdiocese doesn't seem at all willing to talk with any of the teachers. They only back [Schillinger] even when he is wrong," one survey respondent wrote. "I feel like I can no longer speak freely in the halls and worry that any comment I make could be used against me. I am currently seeking employment elsewhere because while my Catholic faith can't be shaken, my faith in [Schillinger] and the archdiocese is gone."

Some parents have in front of the archdiocese in Atlanta and the school on Briarcliff Road. Tom Brennan, a parent and head of the school's advisory council that works with Schillinger, said it remains unclear how and why relations became so strained between the pastor and the principal.

"I'm not surprised at all by those [survey] results," Brennan said. "It sort of begs the question as to why the principal was no longer wanted there. ... I'm unaware of any true agenda of the pastor. I'm not privy to that, and it's confusing. The teachers seem to want Mrs. DeWitt there, and the pastor seems to think otherwise."

One respondent claiming to be a teacher turned in an a blank survey with a note criticizing the survey's organizers.

"My opinion is that this is a private matter and if I need information about leadership changes at IHM School, I can receive this information from my immediate director," the teacher wrote. "I know you mean well, however I do not agree with the manner in which your group is handling these matters. My priority is to remain professional in my work environment and I will not take sides."

But the majority of the staff has taken sides, some survey respondents wrote, and they're behind DeWitt.

"We need explanations, and, 'Mrs. DeWitt resigned,' is not good enough to settle our fears. What led a principal who LOVES the school [to resign]?" one respondent wrote. "How do we know these issues will not occur again? We want Mrs. DeWitt to stay. Please ask her to. Even teachers who wish to remain neutral will agree with these statements, I think."