Letter: Two Principals. One Failed Measure. Zero Answers.
UPDATE — June 5, 2026
Since this letter was published, the situation has escalated.
Today, Principal Tyson Fechter was walked out of his office and off Tice Creek’s campus. Staff were in tears. A parent witnessed it. He is believed to still be employed by the district through the end of the month.
The board is still voting on a new principal this Monday.
Families plan to attend.
Monday, June 8 | 6 p.m. 960 Ygnacio Valley Road, Walnut Creek
The community will be watching.
— Tice Creek Parents
ORIGINAL LETTER:
Editor;
In May, a group of Tice Creek parents wrote to this publication asking for transparency from the Walnut Creek School District (WCSD). We’re back because nothing has changed.
Two principals in two years. A failed parcel tax measure. And now, a rushed hire that the incoming superintendent won’t have a say in.
This Monday, WCSD is expected to appoint a new Tice Creek principal just weeks before a new superintendent takes over. The recommended candidate has no prior principal experience from what’s publicly known. Parents report that candidates with school leadership experience weren’t invited to first-round interviews. Questions have also emerged about whether the recommended candidate appeared before the full interview panel at all.
None of this has been explained.
Measure L’s failure sent a message. Families have lost confidence in how decisions are made at the district. Appointing a permanent principal during a leadership transition, without transparency and without input from the incoming superintendent deepens the problem.
The community deserves answers. Who was interviewed? How was the candidate selected? And why does this decision need to happen right now?
We’re still waiting.
Mary & Will Castillo, Laurel & Graham Dobbin, Neda & Sati Hillyer, Janella Hong, Chris Maggi, Andrea Masry, Kendal & Ken Mott, Rebecca Ocampo, Aileen Ong, Cari Ann & Jonathan Schlunt, Tice Creek Parents
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In 2026, the average elementary school principal in California lasts four years. Sometimes you have to get to the root of the problem. Why are they leaving abruptly? Are young parents who lack life experience driving them out the door? Maybe it’s time to go easy on the pressure and let the principal do his/her job. A candidate with no leadership experience can be a blessing, especially if experienced leaders are leaving too soon.
Tice Creek parents have raised concerns that reflect the values the school and district promote. Many families choose Tice Creek because of its mission and the qualities it seeks to develop in students, and in that sense, the parent community reflects those same expectations. While I wish these discussions did not need to take place on a public forum outside the immediate WCSD community, I understand why families feel compelled to raise them more broadly after first raising them within WCSD.
For example, Tice Creek’s School Accountability Report Card, which is publicly available online at https://www.walnutcreeksd.org/school-accountability-report-card-s, outlines the school’s stated mission and commitments that help shape these expectations.
“2025-26 School Description and Mission Statement
By approaching instruction of Common Core State Standards through Project Based Learning (PBL), students are challenged
to work on real-world problems with real-world outcomes. The process requires students utilize the 6 C’s: Character,
Citizenship, Collaboration, Critical Thinking, Creativity and Communication. As students research a driving question, classes
often enlist the support of an industry expert to guide students and offer feedback on attempted projects. Each PBL unit ends
with a product or outcome which often is presented to an authentic audience. Throughout this process, students are
encouraged to engage in the cycle of inquiry: asking questions, seeking answers and developing new questions along the way.
School Mission Statement: Tice Creek School empowers innovative thinkers to positively impact the world around them with compassion and integrity.
School Vision Statement Tice Creek Students:
• Effectively collaborate with others by valuing diverse perspectives, learning styles, and experiences
• Utilize a variety of appropriate methods to communicate to various audiences
• Think critically when identifying, analyzing, and utilizing information from multiple sources
• Engage in creative problem solving
• Are motivated to apply what they learn to positively impact the school and greater community
• Are thoughtful citizens whose actions align with the Tice Creek vision and pledge.
District Mission Statement: To inspire a community of learners empowered to positively engage with the world through discovery, innovation, creativity, leadership and character.
District Vision Statement: Engage, inspire and empower all learners!”
Hi Jennifer, as a parent to a Tice Creek second grader, I can say that the “young parents” at Tice are doing the very opposite of driving principals away.
We love Mr. Fechter. We love the changes he’s made at Tice Creek. We love the skill, grace, professionalism, and compassion with which he conducts himself. And, by an overwhelming majority, in fact a near universal majority, we want nothing more than for Mr. Fechter to stay as principal.
But, there is one thing on which you and I absolutely agree: Sometimes you have to get to the root of the problem. I can say unequivocally that it is not Mr. Fechter or his relationship with the Tice Creek students, parents, teachers, or staff. So, who is left? The board? The outgoing superintendent?
Since no one has answered even the most superficial of questions regarding the hiring process, parents have been left with no choice to seek their own answers, as any loving, committed parent would.
Thank you for bringing this to the public eye. They did this at Indian Valley elementary school too. Moved the principal to the middle school and then hired a principal last minute who is neighbors of the superintendent. The guy had no compassion or empathy for the community. He was robotic and looked uncomfortable with children. Staff and parents were unhappy with his performance and voiced opinions and he was promoted to head of special education with no sped credentials. He was given three years at Indian Valley. We are now on our third principle in 4 years. Looking more and more like the district has a problem with leadership.
From what I hear, the staff and parents at Tice Creek love their principal and don’t understand why he’s being asked to leave? They think the superintendent is doing what she’s known for, being vindictive. They say he’s turned the school around with positive reinforcements. He checked all of the boxes with proper experience, credentials, and love of community. Why on earth would you let someone go unless there is more the district is hiding?
That’s the bigger issue the lack of transparency in WCSD. Parents don’t trust the board has their best interest and that they are being told what to do by the superintendent rather than it be the other way around. The board needs to stand up to this bullying for once and for all. The community is watching.
Is this “overwhelming majority” in the room with us right now, Trevor? What a joke.
@Parent – there was a petition circulated to keep him at Tice which garnered signatures from around 75% of Tice parents. So yes, overwhelming majority is accurate.
Hi Trevor, as a loving, committed parent of three and grandparent of eight, only Mr. Fechter knows why he’s leaving. I’ve seen this with my own two eyes (helicopter parenting – over involvement) and it saddened me. I wish the students and parents well, and I hope everything works out.
The so-called “Tice Creek Parent Alliance” is a puny group of activists attempting to present themselves as the voice of the Tice Creek community. They are not.
Their latest smear campaign targets incoming principal Pam Davis. We know Pam from her previous time at Tice Creek School and have firsthand experience with her leadership. She is qualified, widely respected, and we are excited to welcome her back.
“Tice Creek Parent Alliance” does not speak for us.
Some people just want to watch the world burn because of a personal vendetta.
Dismissing concerned parents as a “puny group” and labeling their questions a “smear campaign” isn’t the community spirit you’re claiming to represent. People can have legitimate concerns about the hiring process, the current Superintendent, the existing school board, and still want Tice Creek to thrive — those things aren’t mutually exclusive. And if Pam Davis is so “qualified,” it’s worth noting she has never actually served as a principal before.
Tice down for Tyson.
“Academic politics is the most vicious and bitter form of politics, because the stakes are so low.”
That may be true for college and university academic politics, but not when education of the young is involved.
Can’t speak to this particular situation but there does seem to be a general erosion of transparency across various sectors in recent years.
Hi Jennifer, Thank you for responding! I hope you and I can have an open dialogue and I will do my best to address any concerns about the Tice Creek parents.
The first point I’d like to address is your concern about “helicopter parenting – over involvement.” I absolutely agree that helicopter parents are terrible and can be a significant source of stress to teachers and principals as they inject their opinions and agendas into the school and petulantly demand the school submit to their will.
But, can we agree that there’s a difference between helicopter parents and respectful, dedicated parents? To me, the former inserts their own agendas into the school while the latter seeks to work hand in glove with the school, following the lead of the principal and teachers.
While I certainly don’t know all of them, and I can only speak for myself, I’ve found the vast majority of Tice parents to be that latter kind of parents, ie the ones principals love.
We donate money, happily volunteer our time and energy for anything our principal or teachers ask for. We have no agendas other than to support our principal and teachers in whatever way they ask us. We stand by until our teachers and principal ask us to serve. Then we jump into action.
I have nothing but respect for you as a parent and grandparent. May I ask if you have any grandchildren that have been involved with Tice? My reason for asking is that your impression of what Tice Creek parents are like does not match up at all with the parents I know well enough to speak on.
I do appreciate your well-wishes for Tice Creek and I certainly hope things work out for the best as well!
I’ve never met Pam Davis, but I’ve heard nothing but great things about her as a person and a teacher. If she’s our principal next year, I will happily support her the same way I have for Mr. Fechter and Mr. Scott, prior to him.
My individual concerns about Ms. Davis have nothing to do with her as a person or a teacher. She is by all accounts an outstanding person and was beloved as a teacher at Tice.
But, being the principal of a school that combines elementary, middle school, and special education students using the unique Project-Based Learning approach is a tremendous challenge. Mr. Fechter had the administrative credentials and years of experience as a principal to rely on this year to make it so successful. I have a hard time seeing how a new principal, who lacks similar credentials and experience will be a better option for the role.
I look forward to hearing your thoughts!
Hi Trevor, thanks for responding as well! We can have an open dialogue. We can agree there’s a difference between helicopter parents and respectful, dedicated parents. We do have grandchildren at Tice, so we have “half a dog or pony in the race.” Our kids are grown!
Our daughter and son-in-law ask my husband and I “what’s going on?” and we don’t have any answers. And even if we did, we try to bite our tongue and stay in our own lane as grandparents and trust that our kids are doing their best when it comes to raising their children.
If it has nothing to do with parents putting too much pressure on school staff (it was partly in jest) they need to get to the bottom, so it doesn’t continue. If it’s not parental or financial, the first thing that comes to mind is lack of decision-making authority. If you tie someone’s hands and not let them make the decisions they were hired to make, they’ll leave.
Being the principal of a school that combines elementary, middle school, and special education is a tremendous challenge. I understand your concern how a new principal, who lacks similar credentials and experience will be a better fit, but maybe they’re looking for someone less experienced because they’re more likely to stay. A more experienced person (in any profession) can easily move around.
As a dedicated, caring, respectful parent you have more insight than me. Good luck!