Leadership

Wow! What a district in distress this is. There a "brain drain" as teachers and administrators leave, and a general arrogance toward the staff and community. At least here in Morrisville, the superintendent is on the ball and getting the job done. The school board? Not so much...

On the same day that the board slapped her in the face and shortened her contract, Dr. Yonson presided over a meeting with her staff and told them that "they would all get through this together." There's inspirational leadership for you.

SV school board, superintendent take it on the chin
Written by Chuck Anderson | Press Banner
Thursday, 03 July 2008

It’s going to be a long, hot summer for leaders of Scotts Valley Unified School District.

School board members and Superintendent Susan Silver find themselves facing increasingly harsh criticism from teachers, parents and other area residents over several issues.

Although she wasn’t present, Silver took a verbal beating Monday, June 30, during public comment time before the board started its annual closed-door review of her performance.

Speakers told trustees that Silver is arrogant, has fostered a "climate of fear" among employees and told teachers they were to blame for last month’s failure of Measure Q, the $55 million school bond.

"There is a leadership vacuum centered around your superintendent," said resident Gene Scothorn. "She demonstrates arrogance toward your employees and the community."

"What good has she brought us?" asked parent Wendy Brannan. "There aren’t good relations with parents or the teachers."

"I have serious concern with Superintendent Silver’s leadership or lack of it in rushing the bond issue," noted Martha Montelongo, executive director of Santa Cruz-based Californians for Clean Government.

"She didn’t even pretend to hear the concerns of the community. I hope you hold back on any raises or an extension of her contract. The teachers ought to come first — they are the ones doing the job."

Resident Linda Santos told the board that because of Silver, "teachers were fearful to speak out against Measure Q" and then "she told the teachers it was their fault the bond didn’t pass."

The blunt assessments came after word leaked out that Silver’s second-in-command has left, the latest in an unusually high turnover of district teachers and administrators.

A district brain drain

Teacher Ann Codd, president of Scotts Valley Education Association, said Tuesday that 10 percent to 12 percent of teachers and administrators have left the district in the past year, a higher percentage than usual in the district. (See Commentary, Page 6.)

The association voted "no confidence" in the superintendent last year during long, bitter contract negotiations. Codd had sounded conciliatory last fall when she told the board it was time for a "new beginning," but things have changed.

"Teachers feel demeaned, discouraged, fearful of retribution should they speak up and overall they feel as though they are not treated in the professional manner which their position and credentials deserve," Codd said.

Silver acknowledged Tuesday that Mary Navarro, assistant superintendent for instructional services for just a year, no longer works for the district. Trustees had a closed-door meeting May 29 with an agenda item labeled "public employee discipline/dismissal/release," but it isn’t known whether the subject was Navarro.

Silver said she wasn’t free to say whether Navarro resigned or was dismissed because it was a confidential personnel matter, but that she wasn’t aware of Navarro taking a new position elsewhere.

Navarro, who had been director of a charter home-school program in Antelope, near Sacramento, was hired to replace Susan Walker, whom Silver had inherited when she was appointed in 2005. Silver and Walker reportedly didn’t see eye to eye on matters, leading to her departure.

In May, Liann Reyes, the district’s director of business services, left to become chief business official of San Lorenzo Valley Unified School District.

A serious split

The Measure Q failure appears to have exposed a serious split between the district leadership and much of the community.

The school bond had been heavily favored by Silver and the majority of trustees, even though numerous residents had warned the board at several meetings about the size and timing of the measure.

The board voted 4-1 on Feb. 26 to put it on the June ballot, with Jondi Gumz dissenting. She favored a November vote that would have given the community more time to learn about the proposal.

Resulting voter rejection of the measure was widespread. Final accounting shows that of the district’s 15 precincts, voters in only four cast enough "yes" votes to have provided the 55 percent majority needed for passage. In four others, there were more "no" votes than "yes."`

Overall, the measure lost with 3,020 "yes" votes to 2,617 "no" — a 53.57 percent margin.

Silver attributed the community dissension to "a handful of folks."

"There can be a faction that’s very loud and others out doing the work, and that gives a skewed view of what’s going on," she said. "It’s my wish that we would stay focused on the children and the progress being made, which gets lost in the politics."

Last year, after Silver’s performance review, the board gave her a "superior" rating and a raise equal to that agreed to with teachers — 1 percent retroactive to July 2006 and 2.46 percent retroactive to February 2007.

Board President Allison Niday said Tuesday’s closed session lasted about three hours and the performance review likely will continue in August.

When asked about the comments before the session, she said:

"I always take into consideration public input, but oftentimes the board has additional experience and understanding of how the district works that is just as important."

A board decision on any extension of Silver’s contract, which goes until 2010, or raise in her $135,867 annual salary will be discussed in public, Niday said.