Burlingame superintendent to resign

“Chris Mount-Benites has successfully led us through some very challenging times and is now looking for new opportunities,” board President Lisa Mudd said in an email statement. “We appreciate his dedicated service. He will remain on a personal leave and [is] available to assist if needed through the end of this school year.”

Mount-Benites said goodbye in a farewell video and plans to pursue other opportunities in his home state of New York and other parts of California. He thanked everyone for their help in getting through the pandemic challenges and strengthening the district’s financial health, saying he was brought in to deal with fiscal insolvency. During the pandemic, district officials had anticipated a $2 million budget deficit at the close of the 2020-21 fiscal year but instead saw a $5.2 million surplus. Financial constraints over the last few years saw the district reduce spending to keep the budget reductions away from the classroom.

“We achieved those major goals as well as updating all of our curricula, getting back on our academic standing, and creating a really empowered and strong principled team,” Mount-Benites said in the video.

The Burlingame Education Association, a union representing teachers, said in an email statement it was unsure why Mount-Benites resigned or about the financial insolvency mentioned in his video to the Burlingame community.

“However, every teacher within our association is grateful that his tenure is complete. We want to publicly praise the integrity, professionalism, and positivity of the district office staff who have gone above and beyond to bring the district back to its proper course,” the statement said.

The school district and the Burlingame Education Association recently announced a tentative agreement on a negotiated contract for a 9% increase over two years. Board ratification will occur in March. Teachers, over the years, had pushed for increased wages to retain and attract staff and preserve a quality education system in the Bay Area, especially as the cost of living grows and the housing market remains strained. Previous contract negotiations in 2021 proved contentious and required a mediator to be brought in to break the deadlock between the two sides.

Mount-Benites took an indefinite leave of absence starting in December, with district trustees saying they could not provide more details to the public, given it was a personal matter.

Mount-Benites replaced retiring Superintendent Maggie MacIsaac in July 2020 after serving as a chief business official at the Washington Unified School District in West Sacramento. Mount-Benites started his career in education in 1996 as a teacher in New York. His administrative career started in 2004 when he was named elementary principal in Southern California. He has also been a business executive for the University of California, Berkeley’s, division of equity and inclusion, as well as a chief finance position for West Contra Costa Unified School District.