Parents, students rally againt Mission Park principal’s reassignment

Parents and students rallied at a Salinas elementary school Thursday in protest of the school district’s decision to demote one of its principals.

Principal Brinet Greenlee has been the top administrator at Mission Park Elementary School for the past two years, but last month, Superintendent Juvenal Luza announced he would reassign Greenlee to a teaching position.

Luza cited performance evaluations and failing test scores, among other reasons.

District officials also say that there’s also a policy of reassigning administrators every four or five years, to other schools or to teaching positions. Those principals receive letters earlier in the school year warning them of the potential reassignment. Greenlee had received such letters in multiple years, according to district officials.

Principal Jennifer Zanzot, of Kammann, will take over the helm at Mission Park. She will be the fifth principal at the school in the last four years.

Previously, Luza told Central Coast News that one of the reasons Greenlee was demoted was because her leadership skills didn’t align with the district or the state’s leadership approach.

Many parents are unhappy with the decision, which requires final approval by the school board. They’re expected to take up the matter at their June 9th meeting.

Central Coast News reporter Cassandra Arsenault will have more on our newscast at 5 p.m. on KION 46.