Background Information for the Petition

Background Information for the Petition

Termination of Assistant Superintendents Carberry and Janney
We believe this action to be arbitrary and capricious, based on politics not job performance. These two ladies have not ever had a negative evaluation. Dr. Gandara never indicated any dissatisfaction with their work prior to late afternoon on the day of the Board meeting. Dr. Carberry and Ms. Janney are extremely well respected by peers, staff and community. They are highly involved in all activities related to school improvement and student achievement. By removing the highly effective Assistant Superintendents in charge of the schools and Educational Services in the district, the district is left with a huge gap in knowledge and expertise. This is occurring during a time when state testing is just around the corner, the district is striving to exit Program Improvement, the Common Calendar is being implemented, and the High Schools are going through WASC. This will be very disruptive to the on-going business of the district.
The termination of the Assistant Superintendents will not save money for the district since they will continue to be paid their salary.


The Transfer of Dr. Lawlor
We believe this action to be politically motivated. Also, it occurred less than three weeks after the WASC accreditation team at Eastlake High left a recommendation in the exit report stating:

Key issues for Organization: Vision and Purpose, Governance, Leadership and Staff, and Resources (if any) that need to be addressed to ensure quality education for all students.

Eastlake High School would benefit from less turnover in its administrative team.

Dr. Gandara was probably not aware of that recommendation since he has downplayed the importance of accreditation and has not attended any of the accreditation meetings at the high schools this year. However, it should be obvious to Dr. Gandara and the board that three different principals in less than a year would be disruptive to any school.


The Reorganization Chart
We believe that :
Ø The reorganization chart was not prepared with enough input from staff, violated the principles of the district’s Strategic Plan, and many of the moves were decided for political reasons, not educational or budgetary.
o for example - a Program Manager was moved out of the Categorical office at the direction of the superintendent. This move will cause that person’s salary to be transferred into the general fund, where the district is facing a huge deficit, instead of continuing to be funded out of categorical dollars (Title 1 and SCE) that will be fully funded next year. In order to find a position for this employee a current art teacher in the district may get bumped. The Program Manager is doing an excellent job in their current position and has been employed by the district for approximately 20 years.
o Movement and release of classified staff should have waited until the district determined how much money the district will get from the federal stimulus package.
Ø The changes in position on the reorganization chart were gender and age biased. All the women in management who were moved were close to 50 or over and experienced a drop in position or pay. All the men who were moved stayed at the same level or moved up.