Fired O’Farrell School superintendent’s severance remains unpaid, legal fight continues
Board members haven’t explained their unanimous vote to fire Dean, but records reveal the school was investigating him for misconduct involving a female staffer.
Credit: Zoë Meyers/inewsource Author: Jennifer Bowman | inewsource Updated: 11:49 AM PST February 20, 2021
SAN DIEGO The O’Farrell Charter School in southeastern San Diego remains embroiled in a legal fight over unpaid severance after quietly firing its top administrator eight months ago.
Former Superintendent Jonathan Dean is seeking at least $250,000 through private arbitration and says the school has failed to pay the severance after terminating him without cause in June.
The agency mentors Black girls between the ages of 11 and 17.
The group’s name stands for Depositing Empowerment Through Outreach and Urban Development.
‘I grew up with six foster sisters who were all younger than me,” Conwright said. “I started to meet with them informally, taking them to breakfast and talking to them about teen topics. That turned into a more formal setting.”
With a staff of nine, DETOUR is based at the Jacobs Center in Encanto and meets at the Skyline recreation center.
The group also has a mentor program for girls in Juvenile Hall.
“I was raised in Southeastern San Diego and it was really important for me to provide additional opportunities for the girls who were coming from a neighborhood I was coming from,” Conwright said. “As I networked outside my community, I learned about new and different opportunities that often people outside of Southeastern San Diego weren’t aware of.”
Life is about to get a little wilder in East County.
A 20-acre ranch in Alpine will open Nov. 5 as the Children’s Nature Retreat. Kids and families will be able to connect with non-indigenous species such as camels, zebras, ostriches, alpacas, a watusi and a zebu, as well as the more traditional cows, horses, sheep, goats, chickens, tortoises, rabbits and pigs.
Agnes Barrelet said she got the idea for the retreat after watching the 2011 movie “We Bought a Zoo” with her young daughter.
Based on a true story, the Cameron Crowe film follows a widowed father of two young children who buys property that includes a run-down zoo, works to restore it and eventually re-opens a renovated zoo to great success.