Antioch Mayor Pro Tem Wilson steps into school district superintendent removal fight
Antioch Mayor Pro Tem Monica Wilson (from LinkedIn), Antioch School Board President Ellie Householder, Vice President Clyde Lewis and Superintendent Stephanie Anello (from AUSD).
Takes swipe at Board VP Lewis claiming he’s missed three “critical votes”
By Allen Payton
Source: Wilson’s blog header.
The Herald learned on Friday that in a post on Tuesday, on her blog, which has 11 followers, Antioch Mayor Pro Tem Monica Wilson took the unusual step of injecting herself and opinion into a school district issue, supporting Board President Ellie Householder’s efforts to fire Superintendent Stephanie Anello. The move failed with only four trustees in attendance at Tuesday night’s urgently called special closed session meeting, since Board Vice President Clyde Lewis was absent for a work conflict and personal matters. Because of that, Wilson took a swipe at him and claims he missed other “critical votes”, as well. (See related articles here and here)
Wilson also, once again, injected a race into an issue, by reminding Lewis that he’s the only Black member of the school board, and writing “our community cannot afford to lose another generation of students but in particular Black and Latino students.”
Statement from Antioch Mayor Pro Tem Monica Wilson Regarding Antioch Unified School District Special Meeting of September 21, 2021
“I’ve learned the hard way as an elected official that doing the same thing over and over again, and expecting a different result, is the definition of insanity and only serves to reinforce the status quo.
For far too long, the Antioch Unified School District administration has created a subpar environment that has made it difficult for students, in particular students of color, to have the necessary support and environment for success in the classroom.
For this reason, I would like to take this moment to commend Board President Ellie Householder for having the courage to call for a special meeting in her efforts to change the leadership of the Antioch Unified School District’s administration.
As Board President Householder has said, this is a fight for the future of Antioch, as our community cannot afford to lose another generation of students but in particular Black and Latino students because they did not receive an adequate education.
I would also like to take this moment to publicly call on Dr. Clyde Lewis to be present at the meeting, and to vote in support of our students and families by supporting change.
As the only Black leader on the Antioch Unified School Board, Trustee Lewis needs to realize that we in the community have noticed his pattern of missing critical votes. We are watching, and are fully expecting him to rise to the moment, and vote for the children of Antioch.
To not be present for this vote would mark the third time that Trustee Lewis has missed a key vote. In doing so, he will be making it clear that he is not prepared for the pressures and intensity of serving in elected office.”
Questions for Wilson and Lewis
The following questions were sent to Wilson and Lewis early Friday afternoon.
Since it wasn’t posted on either her official Facebook page nor sent to the Herald, and her blog only has 11 followers, Wilson was asked, “did you not want that many people to read it? Was it part of an effort to run for school board or higher office, next year? Or was it to take a swipe at a potential political opponent, Board VP Clyde Lewis, who lives in the same council district you currently represent, in an attempt to eliminate your competition should you decide to run for reelection?”
In addition, she was asked, “do you think it’s appropriate for a council member to interject their opinion into school district business? Would you want school board members, other than (City Clerk) Ellie Householder, doing the same for city matters?” and “don’t you have enough city issues to deal with?”
Lewis was asked if he had any comments about Wilson’s blog post and “to which other critical votes do you think she’s referring?” He responded writing, “Leadership aims to build bridges and collaboration. I’m not really sure the aim of this statement, but I hope she is having a blessed day.”
09/27/21 UPDATE: Lewis offered additional comments on Monday, Sept. 27 writing, “I have no idea which votes she is referring. I have not missed but two meetings during my tenure, only one of which was a regularly scheduled meeting. I cannot speak to her motives and frankly, I’m more disappointed with the lack of attention given to students and solving issues in the community.”
Wilson had not yet responded as of Monday evening, Sept. 27.
Please check back later for any updates to this report.
the attachments to this post:
Monica Wilson Ellie Householder Clyde Lewis Stephanie Anello
Wilson blog post headline
Monica Wilson blog followers 1
