Former St. Hope principal sues school for racial discrimination, harassment and retaliation
A Black former St. Hope Public Schools principal is suing the charter school, alleging that white administrators retaliated against her after she pushed for better conditions for students at the school.
In the 22-page complaint, former Public School 7 Elementary principal Jessica Leary claims that former Superintendent Lisa Ruda and current interim Superintendent Elisha Ferguson Parsons, among other white administrators, engaged in a targeted campaign of “harassment, gaslighting, isolation and marginalization” against her throughout her year leading the elementary school.
Ruda, who is named several times in the complaint, died from cancer in May. Other employees named in the complaint are still employed at St. Hope.
Part of the reason Leary was retaliated against, the complaint alleges, is that Leary was vocal about her concerns regarding a number of operational matters — including breached testing protocols, dishonesty from upper leadership and misappropriation of school funds.
“Throughout Plaintiff’s tenure, ST. HOPE’s leadership — dominated by individuals closely tied to former Sacramento Mayor Kevin Johnson (a founder of the school) — openly colluded to thwart Plaintiff’s reform efforts, deprive Oak Park scholars of resources, and marginalize teachers who advocated for lawful working conditions,” the complaint reads.
St. Hope Public Schools did not comment on the litigation, with Parsons saying that they were not yet aware of the lawsuit. Parsons did not respond to a request for comment after the complaint was shared with her.
What Leary alleges against St. Hope
Leary became principal of the school in July 2023 after spending six months as an instructional coach. Prior to being hired at St. Hope, Leary worked as a substitute and classroom teacher at several local charter schools.
Problems began as soon as Leary was promoted to leadership, she alleges in the lawsuit, when a white assistant principal and an instructional coach actively campaigned to undermine her authority by pushing for a co-leadership model in which they would share responsibility with Leary.
Early on in her time as principal, Leary started to recognize “serious legal and educational deficiencies,” including a deficit of credentialed teachers available to serve disabled students, high suspension rates, chronic absenteeism, a lack of adequate curriculum and the “inexplicable diversion of public funds from classrooms.”
Leary was not the only one sounding the alarm on these issues — later in the school year, Sacramento City Unified School District launched an investigation into St. Hope after a group of parents, teachers and the teachers union sent letters detailing their concerns about the organization’s finances, governance and operations. The resulting report alleged a range of major violations — including conflicts of interests among its top officers, improper use of public funding, deficient accounting processes and the employment of a largely unqualified teaching staff.
The complaint says that as Leary pushed for the adoption of new classroom curriculum and other systemic reforms, she was being subject to “harassing and inappropriate accusations” by Ruda and Human Resources Director Sabrina Jaquez. In a meeting, the two characterized Leary as “aggressive,” a term associated with the racially charged stereotype of an “angry Black woman.”
Termination by St. Hope
When Leary tried to return to work after a medical emergency, she was put on involuntary leave for the remainder of the school year, with Ruda citing staff members’ concerns about Leary’s conduct. Leary claims that Ruda and Jaquez never shared the specifics of staff concerns and refused to formally investigate the matter, nor did they investigate any of Leary’s earlier complaints about St. Hope operations.
In June, Leary addressed the St. Hope Public Schools to protest “discriminatory suspensions authorized by Ruda.” The minutes of this meeting are not available on St. Hope’s website.
In July, Leary reached out to then St. Hope Board President Cassandra Jennings and CEO of St. Hope’s related nonprofits to report issues with the school and with Ruda. She never received a response.
At a charter renewal hearing for Public School 7 Elementary in August 2024, then-superintendent Ruda erroneously introduced Kristen Meyer as PS7 Elementary’s principal of three years; Meyer was principal of the middle school. Leary did not speak on behalf of the school in the presentation for the Sacramento City Unified School District board and was given her termination letter the following day.
On the day she was fired, Leary submitted a complaint to the California Civil Rights Department, who later granted her the right to sue.
Leary has previously sued a former employer. In 2023, Leary sued Gateway Community Charters where she taught fifth grade after she was allegedly terminated for a conflict related to using a student’s preferred pronouns. The lawsuit was settled in February 2024.
Other claims of retaliation
Leary is not the only former St. Hope educator who has claimed they experienced discrimination or retaliation while employed at the school. A Sacramento Bee investigation revealed earlier this year that a teacher was fired after making several credible reports that a football coach was partying with his students. Before being terminated, she reported harassment and retaliation by other staff members for telling administration about the conversations students were having about the alleged parties.
St. Hope was sued three times in 2019 by former teachers, all Black women, alleging racial discrimination and harassment. One was settled out of court and the other two were dismissed before going to trial.
Former Sacramento High basketball coach Matt Johnson, whose termination sparked protests in 2023, said that he was bullied by the school’s team of deans and coaches.
