By Kaylee Olivas
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PARMA, Ohio (WEWS) — Following the recent resignation of Greenbriar Middle School’s principal amid a controversial cell phone video from two years ago, the Parma City School District has reassigned her to a teaching position.
The reason for Schissler’s resignation hasn’t been publicly stated.
However, the day before her resignation was accepted, a cell phone video of her conversation with what appeared to be students was posted to social media.
Cell phone video captured by a Parma City Schools parent in March 2024 shows Schissler in a heated conversation.
“Her behavior is deplorable!” Schissler said.
Schissler can also be heard saying, “Hey, how about you shut up? Thank you.”
There are also questions from parents about whether Schissler asks, “You wanna go? You wanna go? You wanna go?” to instigate a fight.
The parent who recorded the video told me they sent it to a former school board member two weeks later, who then forwarded it to then-Superintendent Charles Smialek.
Following this, a Human Resources Department email to Schissler called on her for an investigative hearing on April 19 in response to questions in regard to allegations of employee misconduct, “more specifically allegations of unprofessional conduct while interacting or dealing with students.”
Four hours after the investigative hearing, Smialek sent Schissler an email saying, “I appreciate the background that you shared. I also appreciate the need to trust our professionals to know their students and employ their best judgment as they work to end disruptive or potentially disruptive behaviors.”
Smialek then told Schissler, according to the email, to be mindful of two considerations:
“You are always on stage and the brightest light will always shine on the principal. While some will understand and appreciate atypical means of curbing inappropriate behaviors, others can question when such falls outside of the traditionally expected norm.”
“Placing your face in close proximity to an upset student can result in unanticipated consequences, most of which are negative for both of you.”
That email sent to Schissler concluded the matter, according to the document.
At a recent school board meeting, there were teachers who vouched for Schissler.
Public comments were off-camera, so those speaking could not be seen, but they could be heard.
One sixth-grade teacher at Greenbriar Middle School said, “She has been our principal for nine years. She’s a mentor to many, including staff and students, starting mentoring programs for both. She has brought and cultivated a growth mindset and family to GMS.”
That same teacher also referenced the cell phone video, saying, “There was context to that, that there were events leading to that and events that occurred after that, and did anyone ever think to ask?”
Another teacher said, “Even if she has had 100 complaints, which she has not, that means that less than 3% of the parents of the students who are in her care are unhappy with her performance. She greets students at the door every morning, she is in the hallways and in the cafeteria, she is present in the classroom. She cares about kids. She is by far the most impactful and exceptional principal I have ever had the privilege to work with.”
To be clear, this situation did not result in charges or legal action.
In the two years following that video, though, parents and an activist I’ve talked to said they have called for Schissler to step down from her position as principal.
“It’s disgusting. I don’t know how you could talk to a child that way,” Greenbriar Middle School parent Vicki Farson told me on Tuesday. “Whenever somebody gets in a child’s face and screams in their face, that is concerning. I understand that we all have our limit. As a principal, we are supposed to be the leader of that school, and we set the ideal role model of how everybody is supposed to act and when you are acting that way, is that how all the teachers are supposed to act? I don’t think that’s how I want my kids’ teachers to act.”
Farson said she has a fifth-grader who currently attends Greenbriar Middle, so when she heard of Schissler’s resignation, she had a sense of relief.
On April 30, the school board accepted Schissler’s resignation.
“I was like, thank God my fifth-grader does not have to deal with that, and all the students don’t have to deal with that,” Farson said. “It was like there can be a change of culture at Greenbriar, a change of culture that’s for the better, a change of culture that we’re not going to just protect the staff but we’re also going to protect the students, and maybe we can change the culture that parents, teachers and administration can work together for the betterment of the students.”
I talked with another Parma parent, Katy Seese, on Tuesday. She has had two children attend Greenbriar Middle School.
“Just from the experience throughout that middle school experience, it was less than ideal,” Seese said.
Seese said the plan has been to send her youngest through Greenbriar Middle School soon, but because of the cell phone video of Schissler, she began reconsidering.
“I have one year left to make a decision, and I was leaning towards I was gonna have to remove her from the school district because I was not gonna send her into that situation,” Seese said.
So, she, too, was happy to hear that Schissler’s resignation was accepted in late April.
But then, Seese was flooded with confusion as the school board approved a reassignment of Schissler on May 21.
In a 2-1 vote, Schissler’s reassignment as a physical education teacher was approved. The school she will be teaching at as of August 20 has not been publicly released.
The school board said Schissler has continuing contract status, hence her reassignment.
The district said on Thursday that Schissler’s reassignment is allowed through the collective bargaining agreement, which it is following.
PCSD also said Schissler’s pay will follow a teacher schedule moving forward, rather than administrative.
“This is not somebody that seems to be somebody we should be exposing more to children on a daily [basis],” Seese said. “I will very confidently say that should she be assigned to a school, let’s say that one of my children’s at, my children will not be attending a class that she teaches.”
Seese spoke at Thursday’s school board meeting — telling me she did so because she felt like her perspective should be on the record.
“I would desire transparency. I would desire honesty, I would desire proactiveness. We have to speak truth to power. The behavior that people keep bringing up, that people keep being concerned about, we don’t feel heard. We don’t feel listened to. We’re concerned for our children. We’re concerned that if we speak up, there’s gonna be retaliation. They need to be proactively creating that type of culture of transparency, of honesty, of leading with humility. It doesn’t exist right now,” Seese said. “When it comes to her (Jill Schissler) specifically, we need to address the concerns that the parents repeatedly are bringing up. Nobody feels heard. This issue is actually, for me at least, it’s the intersection of a lot of different issues within the district right now.”
Farson said her trust within the district has been shattered because of the reassignment.
“I don’t trust a word you say, school board. It was like a slap in the face, and it definitely makes the trust in the board dwindle even more. I made it clear I do not want any of my children in her classes. I don’t know if that’ll happen, but I don’t want my kids around her,” Farson said.
I emailed Schissler for a response to the resignation, reassignment, and the 2024 cell phone video. I did not get a response from her.
I did speak off the record with a Greenbriar Middle School staff member who is in support of Schissler, but they said they are not able to provide an on-camera interview.
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