Watchdog: Concerns about Antioch School Board and Dr. Gill
By Barbara Zivica
You’ve probably been hearing about the Antioch School Districts search for a new school superintendent. Dr. Donald Gill, whose contract ran through June 30, 2017, announced in September that he would be leaving at the end of June 2016. Don’t know the details of his contract with the district but the board voted 4-0 to put him on paid leave until the end of June. So, now he can spend more time with his family in San Diego. How generous.
What I didn’t know and perhaps you didn’t either is that his family lives in San Diego and he has been commuting there every weekend the whole seven years the district employed him. Unbelievable. What was the board thinking? Couldn’t they hire someone from this county or at least a nearby one like Alameda? The fact that he didn’t relocate here shows that his heart was elsewhere.
The school board also, now minus Barbara Cowan who also resigned in September, appointed Associate Superintendent for Educational Services Stephanie Anello as interim Superintendent during their search for a new superintendent.
The board did, however, decide to appoint Fernando Navarro, one of eleven candidates, to the school board as of December 9th . He will serve the rest of Barbara Cowan’s term which ends December 2016.
I like Mr. Navarro’s statement in regard to wanting the district to get back to basics, with additional emphasis on science and history and stop using students as “social engineering guinea pigs”.
Well said Mr. Navarro. I’ll be keeping my eye on you. Perhaps you can also influence the school board when it comes to selecting a new superintendent. They’ve made a number of mistakes to date to the detriment of student scores.
