Social studies teacher Jeffrey Kampf will finish out school year
By Gene Robbins, Managing Editor
Hillsborough High School social studies teacher Jeffrey Kampf, suspended for a week in early March, has submitted his retirement notice from the district, effective June 30.
The school board unanimously accepted his resignation, 8-0, March 21.
Mr. Kampf said in a statement Tuesday that he made his decision “with great sadness.”
”Recently, I have endured significant struggles with high school and district administrators, resulting in my suspension from the district in March,” he wrote. “I do not believe the suspension was warranted, and I remain deeply troubled by the fact that the administration found it necessary to take drastic action under questionable circumstances.
”It is important for the community and for my students to know that I chose to leave the district on my terms,” he wrote. “I was not forced out nor would I have allowed the administration to force me out.”
The vote to accept his retirement immediately followed an 8-0 vote to accept a separation agreement from an unnamed staff member.
That motion was a last-minute agenda substitute for a resolution “withholding the employment and adjustment increments of a staff member whose name is on file in the superintendent’s office.”
Superintendent Jorden Schiff said he would not comment on personnel matters. The board’s attorney was in the audience, but did not speak nor was he called upon.
Mr. Kampf said he’ll remain in his job until the end of the school year “because of my loyalty to my students. It would simply have been unfair to abandon students midway through the school year.”
At the March 4 meeting, Assistant Superintendent Guy Whitlock said the board could not discuss or even confirm the identity of the suspended teacher because it was a personnel action covered under privacy concerns for the employee.
Neither Mr. Kampf, the board nor administration has commented on the reason for the suspension.
Mr. Kampf has been in the district for almost 10 years.
At the March 4 meeting, a dozen students and at least five parents praised Mr. Kampf as an enthusiastic teacher who animated students to share opinions and join the discussion in his genocide/Holocaust class. In addition, they praised his personal interest in students, which boosted their self-esteem, they said.
Parents spoke on Mr. Kampf’s behalf, too, particularly parents who chaperoned Mr. Kampf’s trips to the Genocide/Holocaust Memorial in Washington, D.C., as part of his course.
Mr. Kampf said he was grateful for the support he received.
”That reassurance convinced me to return to the classroom and proved to me that my philosophy on educating young people is still supported by many,” he said.
After most students and parents had left the March 4 meeting, the board discussed an agenda item confirming the superintendent’s action to suspend an employee. Five of the nine members abstained, but the motion carried, 3-1. Mr. Kampf was reinstated by the superintendent at the end of that week.

