UPDATE: Gonzales Unified School District Superintendent terminated

UPDATED 4/11/2018 10:00 p.m. An update on the school board controversy in Gonzales. The superintendent, Liz Modena, was terminated by the board, effective immediately.

The decision was announced after a closed-door meeting Wednesday.

KION received exclusive audio of the board announcing that decision:

“The board has been deliberating on a topic of great importance to the district. After much discussion and contemplation, we have reached the difficult decision that for the good of the district, on a vote of 4-0, to terminate the superintendent without cause.”

The decision happens after months of controversy as parents and Gonzales Unified School District teachers have spoken out against Modena.

Many said she influenced the school board leading to the termination of three teachers who had a history of good reviews.

They also said she’d mismanaged the school’s budget.

We will continue to follow this story as it develops.

PREVIOUS STORY 3/27/2018: Hundreds of parents back at a school board meeting Monday demanding change.

Parents of more than 600 students kept their kids home Monday from the Gonzales Unified School District in protest.

The meeting, just one of several where parents and students are calling for the firing of the superintendent and protesting the firing of three popular teachers.

Parent’s say they’re not stopping until the board takes action.

The Gonzales community showed up again in big numbers with signs and powerful words.

All in an effort, they say, to get the Gonzales school board to hear them.

“We’re letting them know that we’re not going to stop,” said parent Araceli Flores, “This is going to be on-going until they meet our needs.”

Parents, students and many teachers have been outraged since the board decided not to renew three district teachers.

Those teachers say the only explanation they got was they were “Not a good fit”.

“I have students and families coming out who I haven’t taught in years,” said third grade teacher Vanessa Robinson, “It just reaffirms what I’ve been doing in this district is exactly what I was employed to do so I completely refute their basis of it being on my performance.”

The teachers and many in the community say the real reason is that they didn’t get along with superintendent Liz Modena who was not at Monday’s meeting.

Since the March 12th school board meeting, more than a thousand parents signed letters of no confidence, calling for Modena’s resignation.

They say she’s also mismanaged the school’s budget. But that’s not the only step many parent’s took.

“We were able to get parents to keep their kids home and that equaled about a little under 700 kids,” Flores said.

A teacher sent KION an email that Modena sent to district staff saying that the absences aren’t doing what’s best for students.

“Sometimes, you have to go through drastic measures for a system to hear you and that’s what happened today,” Flores said.

So far, the school board has not responded to the letters of no confidence signed by parents.

Again Modena was not at Monday’s meeting but she has responded to the issues raised by parents.

Her responses are below in red:

The three teachers not being rehired, they say they were basically told they were not a good fit, that there’s no legitimate reason for their not being rehired. That they spoke up against things in the district they were concerned about and are being punished. Are you able to address that or at least tell us what reasons a teacher may not be chosen for re-hire? ​ While we cannot share details about personnel matters, evaluation procedures are in place to review all aspects of teacher performance. In this time of teacher shortages, we do not make the decision to recommend non-rehire lightly . There is a teacher shortage in every district in this County (and in the State). To be clear, the old term “highly qualified” has been changed by the federal government to “highly effective” and that means the teacher has the appropriate credential and nothing to do with performance in the classroom. Also, what is being done to address the teacher shortage in your district? How big of an issue is it to you and the board? ​ ​ Gonzales has experienced less of a problem than other districts as our pay is competitive as you can see in the report attached from School Services of California who conducted an independent audit of our budget this current school year. To address this issue and remain competitive Gonzales, like other surrounding districts, offers a signing bonus to attract teachers. Finally, many parents and teachers at the meeting told me (and of course the board) that the budget was not managed correctly. That money was lost and there is a huge need for building upgrades and also new curriculum or textbooks. How well do you believe the budget has been managed to benefit students and staff? ​ ​ ​That is not accurate information. It is what teachers are feeding them because for the first time, in many years the Board did not authorize to accept the Union’s request for a 6% raise over two years. There is one time money available for one time expenses (facility repairs, bonuses) but there are not sufficient funds for ongoing expenses. This is not unusual, you will find the same in many district budges in Monterey County. This messaging to parents and students is grounded in Union Political Tactics that are being utilized in many districts around the state of California. As we have not carried over $2 million every year, I am not clear about this question. There is a state defined budgeting process for public K-12 school districts in California. In Gonzales USD, funding is allocated to each school site to meet the needs of that site. When funds are not fully utilized as planned, that can create a fund balance at year end closing. This under-spending can occur for a variety of reasons. Year end closing is reported publicly at the Regularly Scheduled Board Meeting no later than September for the previous school year. Each year the budget is submitted to the Monterey County Office of Education for review and acceptance. (this review is attached below) ​ Our budget and other information can be found on our website. To make them easily accessible, I have attached some or given you the link to others.​ Here is some of the information that is on our website link​ I am also giving you the direct link to the facilities information Here is the information on budget. This is the link to the Business page on the website Here is the link to the actual budget – first interim report On the bottom of the home page at the end of the Superintendent’s Message (in the middle of the home page) there is a link which gives you many documents that are available to the public. Here is the link to that folder with all of the budget information from December 2017 Budget Information

Textbooks:

There is a systematic policy and procedure in place for textbook adoption that we follow. Not only do we have a set timeline for each textbook cycle, but teachers are also involved by piloting selected programs. We display the materials for public review, hold a Public Hearing at two consecutive Board meetings and allow for comments. Currently, we are in the process of adopting textbooks that are on cycle and we are awaiting the release of new textbooks based on state adoption, which is an ongoing process. Social Studies teachers are currently piloting texts from various publishers and we are poised to purchase new books for the 2018-19 school year. Science teachers are waiting for the state to release new texts aligned to the Next Generation Science Standards, scheduled for adoption in 2018-19. Classroom furniture: In 2016-17 we spent approximately $325,000 for new 21st Century classroom furniture to accommodate collaborative learning. This allowed us to replace furniture in more than 20 classrooms district-wide and upgrade our high school science laboratories, library and to create a College and Career Center. A plan is in place through our District LCAP to continue replacing classroom furniture in a continuous cycle. Materials and Supplies: There is a district procedure in place to purchase materials and supplies. Purchase requests must align with district and site goals, as well as state and federal regulations. Items are ordered when that process is followed and the requirements are met. Additionally, the District has committed to and has purchased 1:1 technology devices for students to use at school (not to take home). There is a Chromebook cart with complete sets in each classroom in grades 1-12, including alternative education programs and adult education. Students in Kindergarten have access to iPads in their classrooms. Additionally, complete labs with 33 desktops each are stationed at our middle school and high school . Attached is the powerpoint we shared at the Board Meeting in February 2017 about some of the facilities improvements that were made. Superintendent Modena also included the 2017 -2018 First Interim Board Packet, that can be found here. Also from the Superintendent: All other Budget information including the independent audit conducted by School Services is in this google drive folder – just click here