Superintendent remains, new legal counsel for Sequoia Union High School District

Williams was hired in April 2021 after former Superintendent Mary Streshly was ousted from her post following district teachers declaring no confidence in her leadership and calling for her firing. After a year on the job, Williams received a positive evaluation from the board this June and trustees went on to vote 4-1 in August to extend her contract for three more years through June 2025 with board President Carrie Du Bois as the lone vote against extending the contract.

During Friday’s special meeting, community members expressed concerns the board was considering firing Williams, the district’s first Black superintendent. Community members again turned out Monday to lambaste the board for holding another meeting about Williams, particularly given that the new trustees had yet to work with her professionally.

Former trustees, Alan Sarver and Chris Thomsen also lent their voices to calls for transparency and expressed their feelings of alarm. Both trustees left the board last Wednesday amid praise for their service but returned Monday to note their concern for the board holding multiple special closed session meetings before a regular open session of the new board and for potentially removing Williams midterm.

“I am deeply saddened for the district by your handling of the first meeting of this board and the distrust you are sowing in the community. At this point I can only reasonably conclude, as so many others have concluded, that it was the aim of the president and vice president to remove the superintendent,” Thomsen said, noting he did not have internal knowledge on the goals of the serving trustees.

Sarver accused board President Carrie Du Bois, who, as president, is responsible for setting board agendas, of having “a frantic need to manufacture meaningful change” before her time as president expires this Wednesday and of doing so “unfettered” by the perspectives of Sarver and Thomsen.

“An environment of secrecy and an ominous sense of impending dramatic upheaval has been brought to the board and district operations,” Sarver said, calling the meetings unprecedented. “Although Dr. Williams will come out of this experience strong, resilient, professional and welcomed in many great and deserving school districts, our students, staff and community will have lost a great deal of confidence and trust in district leadership.”

Current trustees did not respond to any of the public’s comments before filing into closed session and no report out was made once they returned about an hour later. Williams appeared to be absent from both meetings.

Monday’s meeting came just days after trustees voted in closed session to hire Eugene Whitlock, a former community college district employee who blew the whistle on corruption by former Chancellor Ron Galatolo, as extra legal support.

The decision to hire Whitlock was made during a special closed session meeting held Friday to discuss significant exposure to litigation to the school district. It’s still unclear what litigious issue the district may be facing but Du Bois said in an email that Whitlock would be looked to for “help with a range of district related issues.”

Thomsen also raised concerns with that decision by questioning its legality and suggesting such a decision should have been made during a public session so the public could comment on the matter, potentially influencing the decision. Per California code, the board was also required to report out from closed session the vote ratio that allowed Whitlock to be hired but did not do so, he added.

“While that information might not be dispositive, it might be helpful to the community to know how board members vote and it still will be helpful for you to tell us,” Thomsen said.

Whitlock will not be a district employee, Du Bois noted in an email. He previously served as vice chancellor of Human Resources and general counsel for San Mateo County Community College District, a role he left in 2019 after he signed a $2.3 million settlement with the district. Before doing so, Whitlock participated in an interview with the District Attorney’s Office which led to an investigation into Galatolo’s financial mishandling.

By the time of publication, the district had not responded to inquiries about whether the engagement with Whitlock was linked to the potential firing of Williams. The board is scheduled to meet Wednesday for its annual rotation of board president and vice president.