The principal of Monte Vista High in Danville is on administrative leave while the school district investigates her handling of an Airsoft pistol in front of a student.
Rebecca Smith has been on leave since Oct. 8 while the district investigates an incident in which she "handled a gun in an inappropriate manner in the presence of a student," said San Ramon Valley school district spokesman Terry Koehne.
He said the district has determined it was an Airsoft pistol, which shoots plastic pellets that generally cannot break the skin. They are available at sporting goods and other stores. The pistols, generally considered a toy, are not powerful enough for hunting.
Sources have told Bay Area News Group that the incident stemmed from actions before a girls volleyball game, when a player had an inflatable toy that resembled a gun. The student was called to the principal's office, which is where the incident with the Airsoft pistol took place.
Translation: She waved a pellet gun in the student's face.
Smith could not be reached for comment. She came to the school in 1981, working as an assistant principal before becoming principal in 1996, according to the school's Web site.
Her time at the school has not been without controversy. In 2007, a district audit found that nearly $100,000 raised by recent graduating classes was spent for items not approved by students. The funds were raised by each graduating class during their years at the school, with students determining where the money goes, but administrators instead transferred the cash to other accounts and decided where to spend it. Items purchased included computers, landscaping and rugs.
My own experience with Becky Smith has been that she's mendacious, authoritarian, and interested in her own personal aggrandizement much more than the interests of her students. The only time I dealt directly with her was during my senior year, when she advised me to lie on a scholarship application.
It was the Bank of America scholarship; they picked four students for different areas. I was selected for applied arts because (a) I had taken technical classes (Architectural Design) and (b) had a really high GPA. They could have found people better qualified in the applied arts, but never mind that.
Smith brought us in to her office to tell us about the scholarships, applications, etc. In the process she suggested that we improve our chances of winning (and her chances of looking good) by padding our resumes either by exaggerating upon things that we had done or adding additional things that we had not done.
I was quite disgusted by the entire thing. I later learned that one of the girls who did get the scholarship did weasel on her resume. Meanwhile, I kept myself to the facts, and didn't get the scholarship. So my opinion of Becky Smith is quite low, and this worsens it.
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