Superintendent Resigns from El Tejon Unified School District

  • El Tejon Unified School District Superintendent Rodney Wallace in 2015 discussing budget choices. He arrived in 2013, after the union succeeded in ousting former Supt. Katie Kleier, with a handpicked board of union-backed trustees. [Patric Hedlund photo]

    El Tejon Unified School District Superintendent Rodney Wallace in 2015 discussing budget choices. He arrived in 2013, after the union succeeded in ousting former Supt. Katie Kleier, with a handpicked board of union-backed trustees. [Patric Hedlund photo]

Lebec, CA (Friday, Oct. 12, 2018 at 11 a.m.)— Last night at the October 11, 2018 meeting of the El Tejon Unified School District Board of Trustees, ETUSD Superintendent Rodney Wallace submitted a letter of resignation. He had two years to go on his contract with the district.

Under Wallace, ETUSD has developed a solid team of new teachers, student-focused administrators and a strong support staff—including financial director Wendy Jones, who has made masterful moves to secure the future of the district.

Despite these successes under Wallace’s leadership, the ETUSD board of trustees appears to have been riddled with conflicts this year and last, stemming from the influence of the teachers’ union and personal grievances between trustees.  Trustee Lark Shillig—wife of a teacher employed with the district — has expressed displeasure with the superintendent in a behind-the-scenes struggle about disciplinary action regarding former El Tejon Teachers Association (ETTA) union president Charles “Chuck” Mullen. Trustee Shillig was originally picked for the board along with other candidates by Mullen in the union’s battle to remove an earlier superintendent, Katie Kleier.

Mullen’s alleged behavior as the new principal of Frazier Park School two years ago toward a 4-year-old Transitional Kindergarten student resulted in a $200,000 ruling against the district in a civil action brought by the child’s parents. Of that cost, $50,000 appears to have been taken from the district’s operating budget, with the balance covered by insurance.

Against Trustee Shillig’s protests, Wallace removed Mullen from his position as principal of Frazier Park School. After administrative leave and a protracted investigation, Mullen was named principal of Condor Academy (which had about 42 students) at full pay. That position was then cut for budget reasons in the current 2018-2019 school year, and Mullen has returned to a teaching position at Condor Academy.

Early reports are that Wallace gave two weeks notice, in order to accept a position elsewhere.

[Patric Hedlund, TME, wrote this story. If you have additional information about this issue, write a letter to the editor —Editor[AT]MountainEnterprise.com — or call 661.245.3794].

This is part of the October 12, 2018 online edition of The Mountain Enterprise.

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