LYNWOOD — Edward Velasquez, superintendent for the Montebello Unified School District, has been officially appointed superintendent of the Lynwood Unified School District.
The contract has yet to be signed, but it is in the process, said school board President Jose Solache in an interview this week.
During a special board meeting May 6, Solache, along with board members Alfonso Morales and Maria Lopez voted in favor of Velasquez’s appointment. Board Vice President Oscar Espinoza was joined by board member Rachel Chavez in opposing the selection.
Velasquez was given a three-year contract at $245,000 a year. His start date with the district is July 1.
Velasquez, who replaces Dhyan Lal who was fired by the board last August, has as of Tuesday not submitted a letter of resignation to the Montebello Unified School District, according to that district’s public information officer, Robert Henke in an interview Tuesday.
Velasquez’s hiring comes amid a storm of controversy stemming from a lawsuit that was filed in March against him and the Montebello Unified School District by a district employee who accused Velasquez of employment discrimination, causing a hostile work environment, retaliation, wrongful termination and sexual battery.
But despite parent, student and teacher protests, the board majority appointed Velasquez to the post, and reminded audience members during the May 6 meeting that the allegations against Velasquez have not been proven and that he was the choice following a national search for a superintendent.
Solache asked residents to give Velasquez a chance to see what he can bring to the district.
Parent Arturo Ramos told Solache that he had promised not to hire a superintendent without the approval of the community.
“Yet here you are again, not listening to the community,” Ramos said. “You’ve already made up your mind and you didn’t involve us in the process. You are doing a disservice to the community with this vote and let me remind you that the community is not going to forget what you’re doing.”
Morales told the audience that he was glad the search process was over and that he was excited to bring Velasquez to the district.
The votes cast in Velasquez’s favor are a result of Velasquez’s proven track record in Montebello, Morales told the audience.
“We need someone who has a proven track record, someone who is a leader in education, someone who has experience and if you look at what Mr. Velasquez has been able to accomplish in Montebello for the past six years … It’s been amazing,” Morales told the uneasy audience. “And I hope that he is able to do that in our district.”
Morales said he hopes those who have put so much focus on the lawsuit — which has not gone to trial — will put the same energy into giving Velasquez a chance to move the district forward.
Morales and Solache found themselves having to quiet several members of the audience who threatened board members with a recall.
“This is an excellent opportunity for us … and I’m very excited and nothing is going to stop the excitement of the school district, the board and I hope the community,” Morales said over shouts from audience members. “There’s a lot of great things that are going to happen and this is the beginning.”
But as united as Solache had hoped the board would be, the division among the five board members was more apparent than it has ever been.
“Words cannot express the disappointment I have with this decision,” board Vice President Espinoza said, reading from a written statement. “I had hoped that this [decision] would have brought the board and community together, but that didn’t happen.”
By bringing in Velasquez without community support, former board member Martina Rodriguez told the board they were doing the same thing they did when they brought in the last superintendent, Dhyan Lal, who was also brought in on a 3-2 vote. Rodriguez, at the time was among the two dissenting votes.
Board member Lopez told Rodriguez that she did not know Velasquez, but hoped that members of the community would try to work with the board and eventually embrace the new superintendent.
While the contractual agreement has yet to be signed, Velasquez has apparently agreed to a clause in the contract that states that he will resign within 24 hours from Lynwood without severance pay if he is found guilty of any wrongdoings surrounding the allegations in the lawsuit filed against him and the Montebello Unified School District.
A second clause in the contract also states that if any similar allegations arise during his tenure in Lynwood, that he would also resign immediately.
The clauses in the contract, which is said to be a standard contract with no “frills,” according to Morales, is important for the public to know about because they are an act of faith on behalf of Velasquez.
“It means that he is confident in that the allegations are false, that he added these clauses … and if found guilty, he will leave our school district without a penny,” Morales said. “That is a good act of faith and confidence that these allegations are false.”
While the added clauses settled some people’s doubts, Val Zolfaghari, president of the Lynwood Teachers Association, said they weren’t good enough.
“If he’s found guilty or if he does it here, he has to resign anyway,” Zolfaghari said. “When something like that happens, no school district wants to continue paying a superintendent.”
Parent Alicia Fombona questioned the board members’ judgment.
“[Why] are you going to bring in someone who already has problems?” she asked. “It’s like lowering the standards for a superintendent. … What type of example is that going to set for our children and for the people who work in this district?”
Acknowledging that people are innocent until proven guilty, parent J.C. Cohee said these aren’t little skeletons that are coming out. “These are big skeletons,” she said.
Fombona said her ultimate question was: “Why, if he’s done such a wonderful job in Montebello and everybody over there loves him and doesn’t want him to leave, then why is he leaving it for Lynwood?”
Resident Joaquin Mesinas said that the 3-2 vote didn’t surprise him. “This three-member majority has been the backbone of everything that’s gone wrong in this district,” he said. “They brought Dr. [Dhyan] Lal on a 3-2 vote. The same three gave him an increase, gave him lifetime benefits, and the same three turned a blind eye every time something went wrong. …. But never, will any of these three ever admit that they should have voted differently or that they regret their votes. Their ego won’t let them.”
These three, Mesinas added, talk about change, “yet they keep making the same mistakes over and over again.”
Solache asked the community: “If we’re talking about change, I welcome the community to unite and I respect if you are not in agreement with the board,” he said. “But I ask you to at least give us the opportunity, respect this person [Velasquez] and give him the opportunity.”
Solache also reminded audience members that the problems in the district go beyond whoever is superintendent and to fix those problems, it’s going to take the community to unite first. “It’s about giving people the opportunity, because if you’re already throwing rocks at him, on day zero, then it’s not fair,” he said. “If we never unite, then there will be a real reason why we are where we are … if we keep destroying instead of building, then it doesn’t matter who the superintendent is or who the board members are.”
Chavez, the veteran school board member who opposed Velasquez’s hiring, remained quite for the entire discussion. In the end she said that despite her no vote she believes in moving forward and will work with Velasquez once he is on board.
Velasquez’s contract is currently being negotiated. It has not been signed yet and while his first day in the district is set for July 1, Velasquez has not submitted his letter of resignation to Montebello.
In a brief interview Wednesday afternoon, Velasquez said he has heard about people’s concerns in Lynwood over his hiring and added that he understands where they are coming from, but that he’s not paying a lot of attention to the negativity.
“My goal is to come in there and work with the community … to focus on student achievement and fiscal solvency,” he said.
If he’s leaving Montebello, it’s because he is on a high note there. “That is the time you leave,” he said. “That is when you leave, when things are going well in the district. You don’t want to go when you’re in trouble or about to be fired, you want to leave when things are going well.”
Of all of the things he thinks he can bring to the table in Lynwood, it’s “cohesiveness,” he said. “I know I can bring the academic program up and really prepare the students for college and career.”
Velasquez said his first priority in the district will be to target the district’s fiscal problems, considering he already foresees more budget cuts coming from Sacramento.
The soon-to-be superintendent said if he had the chance to sit down and talk with parents to address their concerns, Velasquez said: “I will show them who I am and what I’m about, I am very high on integrity … I have to be the example for the community. … Just give me the opportunity and you’ll see.”
The problems is, Mesinas said, is that professionalism and morals go hand-in-hand. “The board is telling us they’ve hired him based on Velasquez’s experience and professionalism, so where do morals stand?” he said.
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