A. E. Wright Middle School parents call for teacher’s dismissal

A history teacher who was transferred from Calabasas High School to A.E. Wright Middle School continues to be disruptive and should be removed from class, according to angry parents.

Las Virgenes Unified School District (LVUSD) administrators took Lee Shagin and fellow Calabasas High School (CHS) teacher Diane McEvoy out of the high school last month because of growing antagonism between the two teachers and CHS officials. Shagin went to the middle school in Calabasas while McEvoy was transferred to Agoura High School.

Both have filed unfair labor practices against LVUSD.

Three weeks ago, dozens of students came to a school board meeting calling for Shagin’s return to CHS. Last week, about a dozen parents carrying protest signs asked the board that Shagin be removed from the middle school.

While McEvoy, the former English department chairwoman at CHS, appears to have adapted to her new surroundings, Shagin is holding his students "hostage" because he’s upset over his transfer, parents said.

"We believe he is a threat to [students’] emotional and possibly their physical well being," said the parents in a statement released last week.

"This teacher is so angry about the transfer that he is acting extremely inappropriately in his classes, apparently hoping to get a transfer back to Calabasas High if he keeps it up long enough."

Disbelieving parents said Shagin frequently is absent from class, telling his students "he won’t be in tomorrow because he’ll be sick."

"So far our students have not learned anything," said Jana Hazard, an A.E. Wright parent.

Shagin gave his students a college-level term paper and told them to complete it by the third quarter, then said the assignment was a "joke" and told them to throw it away, according to the parents. Parents said he also gave a lecture on murder, rape and suicide in the San Fernando Valley; unsuitable material for seventh and eight-graders.

Shagin couldn’t be reached for comment.

LVUSD officials said personnel matters couldn’t be discussed.

Shagin, who’s had a history of conflict with the district dating back to a 1997 incident in which he allegedly shoved a student, was sent to A.E. Wright to teach seventh grade social science and eighth grade history.

LVUSD assigned a substitute teacher, Anne Sanders, to teach Shagin’s classes while the dispute continues. Parents said they were told Sanders would teach for three to four weeks, but that Shagin might return.

Sanders is the second substitute who’s had to fill in for Shagin.

LVUSD Superintendent John Fitzpatrick told Hazard in a Sept. 20 letter, "Mr. Shagin is a tenured, permanent teacher who is qualified to teach at A.E. Wright and will be remaining there on a permanent basis."

Sandra Pope, the teachers’ union representative, blames LVUSD for not sending Shagin to a different school.

"This is the school district that’s put him in this situation," Pope said. "If you ever asked Lee if he wanted to teach middle school, he’d say no."

Pope said the accusations against Shagin are unwarranted.

"I’m fascinated that parents are taking their shots at Shagin when he’s a 20-year-plus teacher who’s never had any unsatisfactory evaluation," Pope said.