The principal of Portland's Access Academy abruptly quit last Friday after the district began investigating allegations he'd forged teacher evaluations, The Oregonian/OregonLive has learned.

Early last week, the teachers union told Assistant Superintendent Antonio Lopez that Access teachers were concerned their signatures had been forged on evaluations they'd never seen in an effort to cover up their principal's failure to do teacher performance reports required by district policy and state law.

By Friday, David Wood — the school's leader since 2014 — was out. It happened so fast that families in the tight-knit community didn't even get a goodbye. He was beloved by parents whose children attend Access Academy, which serves gifted students in grades one through eight and is currently housed at Rose City Park School in Northeast Portland.

"I felt pressure and I cut corners and didn't do what I was supposed to do," Wood told The Oregonian/OregonLive in his only interview since he resigned. "I regretted it almost immediately upon doing it — but I couldn't take it back."

David Wood

Wood said he thinks he only forged one signature, though he isn't positive. He said he doesn't remember how many teacher evaluations he submitted without having actually done the evaluations. Multiple teachers, he said, were up for review.

Wood says he turned in paperwork for evaluations that hadn't happened so as to not miss the deadline, but he planned to have a proper sitdown with teachers before the year was out.

"My intention was always to give a quality, authentic evaluation to each teacher. It wasn't my intent to hide an evaluation from a teacher or make something up. My intent was to comply with HR and then get a quality evaluation to the teacher," Wood said. "I wasn't trying to sidestep them or go around the process — I ran short on time. My intention was always to give them a quality evaluation and leave them feeling supported."

Wood said when his boss Karl Logan, a senior director, brought the union's concerns to his attention, he admitted his mistake and offered to resign.

The blame, he insists, is all on him.

"I've done evaluations in the past, and it is always a struggle to submit on time, particularly in a building with a solo administrator like myself. But that's no excuse. I signed up for that job," Wood said. "My first and foremost job is to support my students and teachers, and if they are not feeling supported, then it is my job to step aside."

Teachers union officials said, while Wood blames himself, they believe it is common for Portland principals to skip evaluations or to rush through perfunctory paperwork.

District officials did not answer questions Thursday about whether and how they systematically check to see that teachers get adequate job feedback and evaluations every other year, as the rules call for.

Wood said his school is strong and will survive his mistake and sudden departure.

"I have loved my four years at Access. The community is incredible, the kids are fascinating and wonderful, and the teachers are incredibly dedicated, and I regret in this instance I let them down. Overall I think we've built a strong community that will continue."

Portland Teachers Association President Suzanne Cohen said she didn't know the scope of the problem at Access because the union promptly handed off its investigation to the administration.

But she said concerns that Wood was not giving teachers the feedback required by state law were not a first by a longshot.

"Many principals across the district are not evaluating teachers," Cohen said. "It's a districtwide problem where they are either not evaluating, they are rushing the process or they are using it as a 'gotcha' when they want the teacher gone. It runs the gamut."

Cohen said she hopes this instance spurs the district to ask what broke down to allow this to happen. Hopefully this will inspire a closer relationship between principals and the senior directors who oversee them, she said.

"As a union we strongly believe in evaluations," she said. "We really value the evaluation instrument to help us all improve, but part of it being an effective tool is that it is actually used."

The district did not respond to questions Thursday about whether multiple schools have had evaluation problems. Nor did they say what systems, if any, ensure evaluations happen and meet standards, except to note that all principals have a senior director who supervises them and expects them to complete this important work.



"One of the core responsibilities of a principal is to evaluate teachers. Our principals are dedicated and conscientious," said a statement released by Portland Public Schools spokesman Dave Northfield in response to a series of questions from The Oregonian/OregonLive. "They take this part of their job seriously, as do their supervisors. When that expectation is not met, the district takes appropriate action."

Cohen praised Assistant Superintendent Antonio Lopez, who in his role as assistant superintendent oversees the eight senior directors who each supervise roughly 10 principals. He's been in that job since 2014.

Cohen said Lopez appeared to take the union's concerns seriously.

Systematic breakdowns are not unusual at Portland Public Schools, which has for years been dinged by auditors as a system without systems.

In fact, evaluations were a feature in the lead scandal that upended Oregon's largest school district last year.

The outside investigation into how Portland Public Schools bungled lead testing zeroed in on the district's failure to consistently evaluate employees. The investigation report by law firm Stoll Berne noted evaluations were missing for some high-ranking employees. Evaluations they did locate for high-level administrators gave the employees the highest possible rating.

Earlier this month, Sean Murray, the district's' human resources director resigned effective June 3.

— Bethany Barnes

Got a tip about Portland Public Schools? Email Bethany: bbarnes@oregonian.com