Tuesday, May 26, 2009

1300 ? Did not unions report 2K?

http://www3.signonsandiego.com/stories/2009/may/23/1sz23gandara183431-displeased-employees-want-super/?southcounty&zIndex=104130

Displeased employees want superintendent fired

1,300 sign petition to oust Gandara

By Chris Moran Union-Tribune Staff Writer

2:00 a.m. May 23, 2009

CHULA VISTA — More than 1,300 employees in the Sweetwater Union High School District have signed a petition calling for the superintendent to be fired.

The signatures are the most concrete expression of discontent with Superintendent Jesus Gandara that has persisted throughout the spring as the district struggles with budget cuts and personnel reassignments.

There are about 6,000 employees in the district.

In March, the district put 109 educators on notice that they faced the loss of their jobs due to budget cuts. The district later rescinded all the notices. In negotiations with the teachers union, the district proposed a 2 percent pay cut for teachers. That, too, was retracted once the district was informed that it would soon receive $12.4 million in federal stimulus money.

Gandara also demoted several longtime and popular administrators as part of a larger plan to reorganize the leadership of the 42,000-student district. Karen Janney, the second-highest ranking academic administrator in the district and a former state principal of the year, refused to accept her new assignment and has left the district.

The petition calls for Sweetwater's five-member board of trustees “to immediately begin the process of seeking a new superintendent.”

The petition accuses Gandara of using intimidation to gain consent. Employees from all over the district signed even amid what some employees privately call a climate of fear. They say employees believe they'll suffer retaliation if they disagree with Gandara.

When the petition started circulating, board President Jim Cartmill issued a statement that called the petition “nothing more than a political tactic being used during difficult contract negotiations.”

Union leaders who organized the petition drive turned in the signatures at a board meeting this month.

Chris Moran: (619) 498-6637; chris.moran@uniontrib.com

Chris Moran: (619) 498-6637discussion by DISQUS


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  • Wow, Chris. You're starting to write like a true journalist. Just when I was losing all hope that you might be completely owned by one of these politicians, seems like you are looking around and, God forbid, asking questions! Why do so many people want him fired? Why are all of the unions, for the very first time, completely united against this superintendent? There must be something going on here beyond a distaste for the new...
  • SouthBayCommunityMemberYesterday 01:42 PM
    3H_Dragon: The reason people want to see this public figure's calendar is that he is held to certain contract rules. Why are we South Bay taxpayers paying for him to travel to Texas? Did any of those trips coincide with his application/interview process with the Austin Schools? If they did, we should not be footing his bill to get there and he should have been on one of his 48 paid vacation days per year. If he claimed it as work time, then we should not be paying and he broke his contract with THE TAXPAYERS. Would that scenario fit with your idea of doing a "good job" in our current financial climate?

    What other tactics are the Board and Gandara using to SQUANDER our money?
  • this guy rules this district like it is his kingdom. i've done a lot of work with folks in this district for years and more and more are leaving or are planning on leaving becuase of this mans tactics. he needs to go before he runs this dictrict into the ground. The district was turning things around and building new schools, remodeling old ones etc and now I think just about everyone involved with that work has moved on to better places. yes there are new folks in those old positions but they to are not happy.
  • How can you fire Jesus???? i did not know he was back.....
  • Jesus has done a good job considering the financial climate. Why does everyone always want to see someones calendar?? I personally dont think the calendar of someone, public or private calendar, is open game. As for the credit card that is easy enough to verify if it is true.
  • justwanthimgone05/23/2009 08:20 AM
    I agree, this superintendent needs to be fired. You should read the Star News if you get the chance. It talks about how he will not release his calendar through the California Public Records Act. He refused the employee and the Star News. Yet other superintendents from other districts have released their calendars. Even our governor has made his calendar public. Oh and there is the matter that he may be using the District's credit card for personal stuff. Union T. you need to research a little more....this guy is a smuck that must go.
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