School Politics Stirs Up School Teachers
When whispered rumors of a growing controversy in Gilroy’s
public school hit the newsstand in March 1903, the town was swept
with indignation. The elementary principal, Mr. Denton, was
portrayed by eight complaining teachers as a despotic tyrant. In
turn, Mr. Denton was quoted as calling them
”
hussies
”
and
”
sluts.
”
Several Trustees, not previously heard from, published a notice
in the papers disavowing themselves from the entire debate. Both
local newspapers got involved in the story. When one editor came
out siding with the principal, the 1903 Senior Class disdained to
issue him a formal invitation to the high school graduation
ceremonies.
When whispered rumors of a growing controversy in Gilroy’s public school hit the newsstand in March 1903, the town was swept with indignation. The elementary principal, Mr. Denton, was portrayed by eight complaining teachers as a despotic tyrant. In turn, Mr. Denton was quoted as calling them “hussies” and “sluts.” Several Trustees, not previously heard from, published a notice in the papers disavowing themselves from the entire debate. Both local newspapers got involved in the story. When one editor came out siding with the principal, the 1903 Senior Class disdained to issue him a formal invitation to the high school graduation ceremonies.
By June, public opinion had boiled over after further reports came to light of Mr. Denton’s erratic and ungentlemanly conduct toward teachers and students. A meeting was held at which Mrs. Carver, the Vice Principal, and Miss Simpson, a Seventh Grade teacher, handed in their resignations to the Board of Trustees. As the school year wasn’t finished, both ladies agreed, with concessions, to stay and complete the term. During the interim, Mrs. Carver required she not be subjected to Mr. Denton’s orders. Miss Simpson insisted false statements asking her to resign, made by some trustees in a recent Gilroy Gazette edition, be refuted.
The principal had jumped the gun and telegraphed for Miss Simpson’s replacement even before her resignation had been discussed, or submitted.
Local schoolteachers declared support for the two women, stating Mr. Denton had a history of acting despotically toward all the teachers. Several claimed particular indignities, calling him “the man who would be Czar of our school.”
Knowing Mr. Denton’s contract was coming up for annual review, a Trustee attempted to shift blame and focus for his behavior onto Miss Simpson. Miss Sprague, who had suffered indignities as Assistant Principal, said she would also resign if the same school management continued. Accounts of the controversy grew more detailed by the day.
Outcry reached a fever pitch in July with a mass public meeting at the Music Hall on Fifth Street. Citizens and patrons of the Gilroy Public School heard from the eight teachers, who presented a signed complaint stating the principal was guilty of “conduct unbecoming a teacher, displaying an ugly and violent temper, using coarse and insulting language, and issuing threats and remarks against student and teachers.” They claimed he was a poor and erratic disciplinarian, meting out vicious and brutal punishment to some, and undue laxity to others. Besides this, the teachers said, school standards had not been raised since Mr. Denton became principal.
Mr. Denton and most of the Board of Trustees were noticeably absent from the meeting. One who did participate was described as offering “vigorous spouts of expostulation” in defending the principal’s position. A committee of three was authorized to draft resolutions to investigate the situation. Parents demanded it be carried out immediately, before Mr. Denton’s re-appointment for another term was even considered. If not, they threatened, they would appeal to the County Superintendent and if necessary to the State Superintendent of Schools.
Setting aside the teachers’ formal hearing request, in a surprise move in mid-July, the Trustees announced Mr. Denton’s position had been elevated to Gilroy High School principal. A firestorm of protest swept the town. “What of the eight teachers and their charge against him?” an editorial asked in the July 11, 1903 Gilroy Advocate. “A grand mistake has been made by the Trustees in not hearing the charges. Two Trustees in particular have been malicious in their attempts to whitewash the principal.”
The county District Attorney got into the act, saying no high school legally existed in Gilroy because the law by which high schools are established had never been complied with. Jumping on the bandwagon, the teachers argued Denton therefore couldn’t head a school that was non-existent.
By mid-August, just in time for the new school year preparations, Mr. Denton resigned and left town, announcing he had taken a new position in a school at Oxnard. He declared he had never intended to be principal at Gilroy High.
It was too late, by then, for the protesting teachers that had already resigned. Newcomers had arrived to fill their positions and were preparing for the new term.
In the scandal’s wake, the Advocate Editor noted, “We have no reason to believe Mr. Denton’s resignation will have any harmful effect on the accreditation rank of the school. There would be no room for doubt if teachers had been justly treated a month ago. It has not been difficult for these teachers to secure better paying positions elsewhere. In leaving Gilroy these ladies carry with them the love of pupils and confidence of the community. In the face of loss of position under humiliating circumstances they would not accept, they have every reason to feel proud of the stand they took for principle against principal.”
Mr. E.E. Taylor, an educator of impeccable background, was quickly hired to become the new principal of Gilroy High School.
For a wrap to the story, the 1903 seniors were chastised in a local newspaper for not sending the press a graduation invitation. Theirs was the first class in Gilroy history, the editor claimed, to allow spite to interfere with press courtesies. The class was advised to rise above its pettiness.
