For most Garfield seniors graduating this coming June, this year is their fourth in the Doghouse.

Garfield Vice-Principal Leticia Rascon got out after less than two.

In an October 21 email, Rascon announced her resignation to all Garfield staff. Although she didn’t cite a reason for her resignation, she wrote that she was “grateful for the opportunity to have worked with and for [Garfield staff],” and that she “wish[ed] Garfield a smooth and speedy transition.”

Garfield Principal Ted Howard declined to comment on whether or not he had spoken to Rascon about her resignation prior to the email, or if he knew the reason for it.

Howard said that for the rest of the 2009-10 school year, Garfield would continue with just the two remaining Vice-Principals, Lenora Lee and Jewell Woods.

“It means a heavier workload for the other administrators and a heavier workload for me,” he said.

Rascon was moved from Cleveland High School to Garfield in the fall of 2008, when the Seattle School District adopted the Weighted Staffing Standards model. The model, which is used to allocate resources for specific schools, calls for a high school with 1500 or more students to have three full time assistant principals. Before the 2008-09 school year, Howard said, Garfield had always had only two.

Howard said that a hiring process for a vice-principal for the 2010-11 school year will begin this spring. While Rascon was placed at Garfield by the district without any input from the school, Howard said that he hoped this time the process would be an open one, involving parents, teachers, and students.

“The last person interviewed [for an administrator position] was me,” he said.

Student response to news of the resignation has been generally positive. Rascon, who had been booed by students at assemblies, did not have a reputation of popularity with students. The newly created Facebook pagel, “Ms. Rascon not working at GHS anymore,” had amassed 225 fans as of November 1.

This isn’t the first time Rascon has resigned from a school administrative position. In 2004, she was working at Covington Middle School (CMS) in Austin, Tex., according to Texas court documents. Rascon contended that she was harassed by the CMS principal, Karen Rilling, and filed a charge of discrimination with the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. Rascon eventually reached an agreement with the Austin Independent School District that she would withdraw her charge and resign from her position in return for the removal of Rilling’s unfavorable evaluation from Rascon’s files, the documents said.

Rascon could not be reached for comment.