By Patric Hedlund

Enrollment at El Tejon Unified School District schools has gone up by 14.8% since August, the ETUSD board was told by Chuck Mullen (president of the El Tejon Teachers’ Association—ETTA) during his report to school board trustees December 12.

“What a happy time to be here,” he added. At that same meeting, Vickie Mullen was elected president of the ETUSD board for 2014. The ETTA president is her spouse.

In a perfect trifecta, the board also hired a new superintendent. When students return from vacation January 6 the district will be operating with a full team of administrators for the first time in several years.

New Superintendent Rodney Wallace signed a contract at the meeting. His $116,000 agreement officially begins on January 1, 2014. Wallace said he will be touring the schools in advance to become acquainted with personnel and students.

In an interview with The Mountain Enterprise before the public board meeting began, Wallace said he wants to make opportunities available to the homeschool families of the mountain. He said he will be seeking ways to offer independent study to homeschoolers and wants to invite them to participate in extracurricular activities, including sports.

“I think we have selected an outstanding leader for our district,” ETUSD’s 2013 board president Scott Robinson said. “Out of all the candidates, we hired the best one.”

Two weeks before Halloween, San Luis Obispo County newspapers reported Wallace was “fired” when his…

Photo captions:

Left, New superintendent Rodney Wallace signs his contract at the December 12 meeting while El Tejon Unified School District trustees look on. The board also elected new officers for 2014.

Above (l-r) new board president Vickie Mullen, outgoing board president Scott Robinson, Trustees Anita Anderson and John Fleming, new Superintendent Rodney Wallace, Trustee Lark Shillig and student representative Heather Henderson (Mullen’s daughter).

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