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Three Mountain View Whisman schools are experiencing mid-year leadership changes, with interim principals taking the helm at Theuerkauf, Castro and Stevenson elementary schools.
Four additional schools had new principals at the start of the school year. In total, seven out of the district’s 11 schools have – or soon will have – a different principal than they did last school year.
Stevenson Principal Terri Lambert is set to retire at the end of the month, and districtwide Director of Equity Megan Pohlman has been picked to fill in on an interim basis. According to the district, Pohlman will continue to do equity work while leading Stevenson.
Over at Theuerkauf, whose campus is adjacent to Stevenson, Principal Danielle Lyons is scheduled to go on maternity leave this month. Margaret Poor will be filling in while Lyons is out. Poor currently serves as a teacher on special assignment, a position in which she helps students who are learning English and their teachers.
Castro saw leadership turnover back in November, when Acantha Aragon Contreras stepped in as interim principal after Principal Scott Wilbur took a leave of absence. The district told parents in an email last month that Contreras will continue to lead Castro for the rest of the school year.
Interim Superintendent Kevin Skelly told the Voice that Wilbur “has elected to resign, effective March 31.” He did not respond to a question about the reason for Wilbur’s departure, and said that the district is limited in what it can say about personnel matters.
Wilbur was only a few months into his first year as principal at Castro. The district hired him in 2024 from the Hollister School District, where he had been a principal.
Before taking over the interim spot at Castro, Contreras was an educational services coordinator in the district office. She was previously the district’s special education director.
In addition to the interim principals at Stevenson, Theuerkauf and Castro, four other Mountain View Whisman schools saw new principals at the beginning of the school year: Graham Middle School, Crittenden Middle School, Monta Loma Elementary School and Bubb Elementary School.
- Graham: Principal Heidi Galassi resigned at the end of the 2023-24 school year. Sebastian Benavidez was hired to replace her. He was previously a middle school principal in Palo Alto.
- Crittenden: Assistant Principal Julie Thompson was promoted this past summer to replace Anne Flores-Aikey, who was planning to retire. Flores-Aikey retired in October.
- Monta Loma: Principal Trisha Lee resigned at the end of the 2023-24 school year. The district hired Meghan Jinguji to replace her. Jinguji was previously a principal in the Loomis Union School District outside of Sacramento.
- Bubb: Principal Mariko Kobata resigned at the end of the 2023-24 school year. The district hired Jane Jung to replace her. Jung was previously an assistant principal in Palo Alto.
Asked about the turnover, district spokesperson Shelly Hausman said that leaves, retirements and other changes “happen for a variety of personal reasons in employees’ lives.”
In the case of each of the three mid-year vacancies, the district has chosen to reassign a district office staff member to serve in the interim post and hasn’t hired someone new to cover that person’s existing responsibilities.
Hausman said that the appointments “make good use of our current employees’ skills while not adding to staffing expenses for the district mid-year.”
The district has run into controversy over its spending practices on multiple fronts in recent months and is set to undergo an external state audit. At a school board meeting last month, Skelly pointed to the decision to reassign existing staff to fill the three principal vacancies as one of the steps the district is taking to address community concerns over its expenditures.
Changes in district office staff assignments
Along with the interim principal assignments, the district has also announced changes to certain assignments at the district office.
Among them, Health and Wellness Coordinator Brian White will now also be coordinating the district’s Multi-Tiered System of Support program, which aims to standardize the ways that the district offers support for students. Contreras, who is serving as interim principal at Castro, previously specialized in MTSS for the district.
Swati Dagar is transitioning from being the director of curriculum, instruction and assessment to instead becoming the interim director of administrative services. According to Hausman, this change was made because the administrative services department’s work is growing, with additional needs in areas including human resources and student services.
Director of Early Literacy Cyndee Nguyen is moving to fill Dagar’s prior role, taking over as interim director of curriculum, instruction and assessment. Nguyen will continue to do work on early literacy in her new job, Hausman said. Early literacy has been a particular focus for the district, and was a priority mentioned by multiple school board candidates in November’s election.
The district is also moving its health and wellness department, which is headed by Karin Jinbo, to be part of the educational services department, rather than administrative services.
I think the parents underestimate how many principals enjoyed working with the Dr Rudolph and are disappointed in his departure.
Perhaps you could provide a list of those principals to enhance the credibility of your assertion.
See below.
You are so wrong in this assertion. There was a big sigh of relief when he left.
See below
I’m not exactly sure what that says about the principals. Especially considering the circumstances that Dr. Rudolph left under. We shall see where this goes with the “new” leadership.
The principals who are leaving are those hand-picked by Dr.Rudolph, so you might be right.
The turnover is more indicative of Rudolph’s poor choices in hiring. At least one of the principals who is leaving was NOT handpicked by him but rather the previous superintendent. And one is going on maternity leave – how is that related to him leaving?
Bruce, what are you going to do with the list, go ask them? Tell me how that would help you validate my assertion further. What if it doesn’t agree with your own mental model?
Really? : Everyone seems to be happy with his new hires at Bubb and Graham. Multiple parents singing praises of the principals at a recent Board meeting.
Just because “everyone” is happy with the new hires at Bubb and Graham does not mean that those principals enjoyed working with Rudolph. That’s quite a leap. He lead by fear so many staff members are glad he is gone.
I was addressing your point that he made poor hiring choices. Everyone is happy with the new principals, so your point is wrong.
For many, the Rudolph fiasco may be in the past, I’m glad to see parents are digging deeper into his tenure here. The fiscal irresponsibility is being unearthed, but that’s only the beginning. There’s more to come
Why are we waiting?
Waiting for the external state audit! It is clear – that Rudolph may have been working on ‘a cult of personal loyalty’? His administration over the last 9 years – and the past Board’s oversight – what a disaster measured by the metric of Hiring and Retaining the best school site administrators.
Occasionally moving a few principals – even releasing one every year or two. Might seem reasonable. But the Rudolph legacy on hiring and retaining good middle manages (site principals) seems by the numbers (and stories) mind boggling!
Reducing the Way-Over-Average “Administration” expense of this district is ? good, bad, overdue? Now reaching about 9% of expense – the MVWSD has been adding administrative positions (and expenses) over the continuity of Rudolph’s tenure.
Does having 29% higher than average, make this District better or less efficient at Administration? (Ed-data.org Mountain View Whisman) [Function Codes 7000-7999 ] 2022-23SY