County board of education said to be ready to oust another superintendent
SAN JOSE >> Jon Gundry, who brought stability to the chaotic Santa Clara County Office of Education, appears to be on his way out as schools superintendent over friction with board members and allegations of harassment.
The county board of education is negotiating a mid-contract exit plan with Gundry, 62, according to several sources who declined to release confidential details. If he leaves his $327,433 job, Gundry will be the fourth consecutive superintendent ushered out by the seven-member board in the past decade at taxpayer expense. He could be owed as much as a year’s salary as severance.
“I’m proud of the work I’ve done here,” Gundry said. “I know I’m not perfect but I think I’ve done a good job.”
Oddly enough, Gundry appears to have at least partial support from the majority of the board, which now finds itself in an awkward place — negotiating with a superintendent most trustees wish could stay. A little over a year ago, the board awarded him a positive evaluation and extended his contract through June 2020.
“Jon has shown great leadership in terms of leading the various departments,” said board President Michael Chang, who represents Cupertino and the West Valley on the county board. “In
particular, he has done well in (enabling) the board to have greater oversight over the charter schools.”
Although low profile and not well-known by the general public, the office of education plays an influential role serving the county’s 31 school districts and 273,000 public-school students. The office runs special-education classes, Head Start and state-funded preschool, and schools for students who are incarcerated, on probation or expelled from their home schools. For school districts it provides accounting, payroll, technology and training, and oversees their budgets and education plans.
As superintendent, Gundry controls a highly visible bully pulpit. He’s advocated for reforming the troubled Alum Rock Union School District. He’s also championed the expansion of preschool for underprivileged children and spearheaded a database for foster youth in three counties, which attracted a $1 million grant from the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative.
With strong concern about Gundry from two trustees — Claudia Rossi of Morgan Hill and Anna Song of Santa Clara — the board has wrestled with Gundry’s evaluation in 16 meetings over nine months. Publicly, the two board members have grilled Gundry over a looming budget deficit, turmoil in special education, teacher complaints, possible harassment and poor communication.
Laurie Book, director of internal business services, in February filed a complaint about Gundry’s behavior. She said Gundry leveled “incorrect accusations” against her, yelled and exhibited other inappropriate conduct during a November cabinet meeting and on subsequent occasions.
The board commissioned an investigation by its lawyer, Linda Hendrix McPharlin, according to sources. The results of the investigation were not made public.
But Chang wrote in a letter to Book, “The board takes such matters seriously and appropriate steps have been taken as a result of the investigation. You can be assured that there will be no retaliation against you or any employee as a result of raising concerns of workplace conduct.”
In an email to this newspaper, Book commended the board for investigating.
Gundry flatly denied mistreating any employee. “It’s not true. It’s not my personality to harass people,” he said.
Trustees also are concerned about the office’s apparent inaction on alleged harassment by another administrator and an attempt to muzzle teacher complaints.
But the office’s personnel director, Philip Gordillo, said Gundry has tried to improve communication. “I think he’s been a good leader,” Gordillo said. Before him, “for many years there was so much toxicity.”
After being hired in July 2014, Gundry set about repairing the chaos left by his predecessor, Xavier De La Torre. He restored a business services department that had been left in shambles. Before dismissing De La Torre, the board got rid of Charles Weis in June 2012 and Colleen Wilcox in 2007.
The alleged reasons behind the departures were various and unique to each superintendent — from employee abuse to favoritism to ineptitude. But in looking at the pattern, former trustee Leon Beauchman said, “at some point it time it becomes apparent that it’s issues with the board.”
Until recently, Gundry’s most visible conflict was a legal battle with two top administrators he ousted in 2015. The office recently settled a lawsuit brought by former General Counsel Maribel Medina, who alleged racial harassment, allegations Gundry dismissed as lies and “outlandish.” The other suit, by former Chief Business Officer Micaela Ochoa, alleging bullying, is pending.
Then in March, when dozens of special-education teachers were expected to protest the impending layoff of two principals, HR director Gordillo emailed a warning: “Please know the superintendent has asked me to inform you that a personnel matter such as your March 15 notice would be an inappropriate topic for the board to hear.”
“The teachers were livid,” said Kathy Bays, a specialeducation manager who has since retired.
Later in the spring, the board discovered that Gundry had negotiated employee pay raises — 5 percent for 2016-17, 4 percent this school year and 3 percent next year — that they hadn’t heard about and that threatened to send the budget out of whack. Song and Rossi dissented when the board approved the office’s 2017-18 budget.
It turned out that Gundry held the legally required public hearings about the employee contracts at midday meetings in his office. He said such non-board hearings are common elsewhere.
But Song was livid. Trustee Joseph Di Salvo talked about being blindsided by the budget. And Rossi called such procedures “alarming.”
With Gundry teetering on the edge of departure, opinion within and outside the county office of education remains sharply divided.
Trustee Grace Mah, a Gundry supporter, praised his record and worried about the impact of booting out yet another superintendent.
But Song said, “If we have employees at the top level who say they are fearing for their livelihood that’s not good.”
On the other hand, board President Chang said, “He has done great work. Sometimes things happen beyond our control.”