On Thursday, May 19, the SDUHSD held a regularly scheduled Board Meeting at the District Office.
Student Representatives
This was the final meeting attended by our current ASB student board representatives. This is a great opportunity to experience public governance first-hand. The entire Board thanked them for their service, and I wish them the best as they move on to the next chapter in their lives.
Melisse Mossy Recognition
The Board also recognized former Trustee Melisse Mossy for her service on the Board and for her service to our community. For those of you who watched any of our Board meetings you know that Melisse always had the best interest of parents and students as her top priority. I will always look back with fondness on our time together on this Board and I am happy to consider her a friend. She is missed.
College Preparations
Near the end of the meeting the Board discussed how we can improve our college preparation programs. Board President Mo Muir suggested we conduct a comprehensive survey of graduating seniors and their parents to obtain their input on how we can improve the college preparation process.
The Kaplan college preparation seminars offered this year were very well received by both parents and students, but I am convinced that this is just the tip of the iceberg of what we can do to help our college-bound families. We should have the very best college preparation program of any school district in the state, and Mo Muir and I are committed to this goal. Investing in this program should be one of the most important objectives of this Board.
Swimming Pools
The Board approved the hiring of an architectural firm to design and engineer the construction of a new swimming pool at Torrey Pines High School. This is an important step in our commitment to build two swimming pools in our District. Today our aquatics families must find available time slots at pools in our community, which often means practicing very early in the morning and very late at night. Our District is long overdue for having its own swimming pools, and Board President Muir and I are dedicated to moving this process forward as expeditiously as possible.
There was an unusual exchange at the beginning of the Board meeting when Trustees Young and Bronstein asked to remove the consideration of the pool architect from the Board Agenda, and then debated the merits of hiring the architect as we were discussing the meeting agenda. The purpose of approving the meeting agenda is to agree on what we will discuss in the meeting, not to actually have any substantive discussions at that point.
Both Trustees Young and Bronstein want to move more slowly on pool construction. They are concerned that pools may take funds away from current or future district needs. Every capital expenditure is a matter of priorities, and pools are a priority to Board President Muir and myself. We are both dedicated to moving forward without delay to build two pools in our District.
The Employment and Legal Status of Dr. Cheryl James-Ward
The issue that dominated the meeting was the employment status of Superintendent Ward.
In the wake of Dr. Ward’s comments about the academic performance of Asian students during our recent DEI Board Training Seminar, the Board voted 3-1 at its April 20th meeting to place Dr. Ward on paid administrative leave. Dr. Ward will remain on paid administrative leave and is prohibited from conducting any District business until the Board, by majority vote, takes further action.
It is public knowledge that Dr. Ward has retained a labor attorney and is threatening to file a lawsuit against the District. As a result of this, and letters sent to the District by her attorney (which you can read in the Board Agenda), the Board acted in closed session by unanimous vote to both acknowledge her claim against the District and to reject that claim. This is an important legal step because 1) it activates our insurance contract so that our legal defense costs will be paid, and 2) this action starts a statutory time clock such that Dr. Ward will be required to file any lawsuit within six months if she decides to sue the District.
Agenda Item 3G, the final item in closed session, considered the employment status of Dr. Ward. Dr. Ward is on paid administrative leave and will remain on leave until a majority of the Board decides on an alternative course of action, which as a practical matter would be to either remove her from administrative leave and reinstate her work responsibilities or terminate her employment with the District. If the Board had taken any action by majority vote, that action would have been immediately reported to the public when the open session of the meeting reconvened.
After returning to open session, Board President Muir did not report that any action took place regarding Agenda Item 3G. As such, Dr. Ward remains on paid administrative leave. Dr. Ward, while being prohibited from conducting any District business while on administrative leave, will continue to receive her full salary of about $24,000 per month.
Public Comment Sections of the Meeting
All our board meetings provide an opportunity for members of the pubic to speak during open session. The practice of our Board is to generally have three public comment sections, one for closed session agenda items, one for open session agenda items, and one for anything not listed on the agenda. Each public comment section is limited to 10 speakers and two minutes for each speaker, and speaking slots are allocated on a first-come, first-served basis. The Board President may, at her discretion, increase the number of speakers or change the time allotted for each speaker. Due to the large number of people who wished to speak, President Muir increased the number of speakers for each public comment section from 10 to 15.
The public comments were mostly on the issue of Dr. Ward’s employment status, with a vast majority of speakers advocating for the immediate termination of Dr. Ward’s employment with the District. Other speakers asked for her immediate return from administrative leave.
Still other speakers called for my resignation. I didn’t think it was convenient or appropriate for me to comment on this at the time, but I will comment here. I was elected to a four-year term of office that will expire in 2024, and I have no intention of resigning from office.
The call for my resignation is a distraction, but I can put this aside and continue the essential work of a Board Trustee. It in no way prevents me from working as hard as I ever have on behalf of families and students.
Interim Superintendent Tina Douglas is doing an excellent job. The district is running smoothly under her leadership, and we no longer deal with daily dramas. She is a consummate professional and she has the respect of her colleagues and the Board. I have, and always have had, an excellent working relationship with her, and I am so grateful that she stepped up to take over the day-to-day operations of our District.
Finally, you may have heard that I called for an investigation after Dr. Ward made some unfounded accusations during a public board meeting. It would be inappropriate for me to comment on any specific allegations or information that may be pertinent to the investigation. The independent investigator must be able to conduct this work with as much integrity as possible. Therefore, I will not be commenting on any specific details until the investigation is over and I will respect the integrity of the investigation.