Cheyenne’s former superintendent of schools was cleared of claims made by a former employee she discriminated and created a hostile work environment shortly before she resigned last week.
Dr. Margaret Crespo, superintendent of Laramie County School District 1 until her resignation Friday, faced conduct complaints starting in May, alleging that she violated federal non-discrimination employment laws, discriminated against men on the basis of sex, created a hostile work environment and retaliated against employees.
The Laramie County School District 1 board accepted Crespo’s resignation during a special meeting Friday afternoon.
Cowboy State Daily on Monday obtained a July 28 letter by Scott E Kolpitcke, a Wyoming attorney, to Crespo stating that an independent investigator couldn’t substantiate the allegations against the superintendent.
Independent investigator Amanda Esch interviewed 15 witnesses, including Crespo and the employee who complained.
“She could not substantiate the complainant’s claims of sex discrimination, hostile work environment and retaliation,” reads the letter.
Esch also found no evidence to support the employee’s claims that Crespo violated state law or school district policies.
Former Johnson Junior High School Principal Brian Cox had made those same complaints about Crespo in a June letter to the school board. He said he left the school district to protect his family and himself from negative experiences at LCSD 1.
Cox did not immediately respond Monday to a Cowboy State Daily voicemail.
‘A Disgruntled Employee’
Crespo was terse Monday, but told Cowboy State Daily the complaints against her came from “a disgruntled employee.”
“I wish him the best,” she said, adding that she found his complaints vague and conclusory, and so had a difficult time responding to them point-by-point.
“I just want to be able to focus on the work of kids, and their future,” she said. “And I think I’ve done that with the strategic plan here and found it was a great opportunity to move on.”
With an upcoming surgery, she was not at the Friday school board meeting where the public commented both for and against her resignation, said Crespo.
She said there are “very personal reasons” behind her decision to leave the district.
Politics?
Crespo alluded to political influence in the controversy, saying national narratives are “playing out all the time, where education is not the place for it.”
She did not specify which national narratives influenced the controversy or her decision to leave.
Laramie County School Board 1 Chair Tim Bolin said he could not comment to Cowboy State Daily since Crespo’s departure is a personnel matter.
Clair McFarland can be reached at clair@cowboystatedaily.com.
