A former principal at Carmel Creek Elementary School won $186,711 in damages after a jury agreed that the Solana Beach School District illegally removed her from the position based on her childcare needs.
Lisa Busalacchi-Ryder began working for the school district in 2006 as a speech language pathologist. She became principal at Carmel Creek in San Diego in 2015.
She also had a daughter in the elementary school district who was experiencing anxiety and required an “Individualized Educational Plan.”
According to a complaint she filed two years ago in San Diego County Superior Court, Busalacchi-Ryder had to occasionally leave Carmel Creek to pick up her daughter from school during the spring months of 2021 as a result of her daughter’s new schedule under the IEP. The complaint said she cleared it with the district in advance, and made sure another administrator was in charge while she was gone.
Then, according to Busalacchi-Ryder’s complaint, the district’s superintendent and assistant superintendent of human resources told her that she was under investigation for allegations of misusing her position as principal to access her daughter’s educational records, inappropriate absence reporting and other concerns.
As the school year came to an end in 2021, the district announced to the community that she was being removed as principal due to “unforeseen circumstances.” She was going to be reassigned to a non-administrative position with a pay cut, according to the complaint, leading to the lawsuit she filed in March 2022.
In awarding the damages, a jury determined after a February trial that Busalacchi-Ryder provided reasonable notice to the district about her childcare needs, that those needs were a motivating factor in removing her as principal, and that the district’s conduct caused her harm. The $186,711 is roughly equal to the annual salary and benefits she received as principal, according to data from Transparent California.
“I am grateful to the jury for their service and verdict in recognizing that SBSD violated my right to family care leave, and broke the law by removing me as Carmel Creek Principal,” Busalacchi-Ryder said in an emailed statement from her attorney. “I greatly appreciated the unwavering support of the teachers, staff, my colleagues and the parent community over the past three years. I hope the Solana Beach School District and Board of Education take steps to prevent its employees from being similarly harmed in the future.”
During public comment at a Board of Education meeting on March 14, former Carmel Creek speech pathologist Susan Johnson said district leaders have to “rebuild the trust and communication in the Solana Beach community.”
“This horrible situation is over, but it has left the entire district scarred and sad,” Johnson said. “I challenge you, as the leaders of the Solana Beach School District, to find a way to repair the damage caused by Lisa’s firing.”
Pearl Hibsman, a Carmel Creek office assistant, said Busalacchi-Ryder was “highly admired and respected by all.” Reasons for her removal were never made clear at the time, she added.
“So here we are three years later and we got our answers,” Hibsman said. “It took an uprooting of a person’s life and career, followed by a trial to reach those answers.”
Jacky Schon, a parent in the district, said in a phone interview that she remembered Busalacchi-Ryder coming in early to help decorate on days when there were school parties.
“She was a very engaged, very nurturing principal,” Schon said.
All three of them said they felt her removal was a top-down decision by then-Superintendent Jodee Brentlinger, who recently retired, that ignored the support Busalacchi-Ryder had within Carmel Creek. A Change.org petition asking for her reinstatement accumulated more than 250 signatures.
“While this situation has been unfortunate for all involved, the Board of Education continues to support the decision to reassign the employee,” Debra Schade, president of the school board, said in an email. “Our actions were and will continue to be guided by our unwavering commitment to always prioritize service to students.”
Harold writes for the U-T Community Press.
