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Update: This article was updated on Saturday, Nov. 2, after the school district posted the resignation agreement.
Mountain View Whisman Superintendent Ayindé Rudolph announced his resignation on Friday, Nov. 1, and the school board will consider a “resignation agreement” with him at a meeting next week.
The agreement, which the district posted online on Saturday, calls for the district to pay Rudolph $98,259.72, which is equivalent to three months salary and a 4% retirement contribution. He would also retain health benefits and life insurance through Jan. 31, 2025 or until he finds another job, whichever comes first.
The document includes Rudolph’s signature, dated Nov. 1. The school board plans to consider approving the agreement at a Thursday, Nov. 7, meeting, Conley said.
Rudolph did not immediately respond to requests for comment on Friday evening or Saturday, but released a letter on social media.
“After much reflection, following a recent health scare, I have come to realize that the demands of the job continue to have an adverse impact on my health, and my priorities need to shift towards focusing on my health and spending more time with my family,” Rudolph wrote. “Thus, it is with a heavy heart but also a sense of fulfillment that I announce my resignation.”
Rudolph has led the district for nearly a decade, since being hired in 2015. He came to the district from Buffalo, New York, where he had worked as a school administrator. Previously, Rudolph was a principal in Charlotte, North Carolina.
On Oct. 7, the district announced Rudolph would be taking what it described at the time as a “short-term” leave of absence. The school board subsequently approved a “statutory leave” through the end of October. No reason for the leave was given.
The resignation agreement addresses the low-interest loan that the district gave him to purchase a house. Under the terms of the resignation agreement, Rudolph agrees to repay the outstanding loan balance and 40% of the appreciated value by June 30, 2025. He would get to keep the other 60% of his home’s appreciation.
The agreement states that Rudolph “will not seek any further compensation or benefits” in connection to the matters the document encompasses, and that it constitutes Rudolph’s “irrevocable and unconditional resignation.”
“This Agreement represents a full and complete resolution of the claims and disputes between the Parties related to the dispute,” the document states.
The district has been facing controversies on multiple fronts in recent months.
Mountain View Whisman has drawn substantial ire from some parents and community members over six-figure contracts for executive leadership coaching, meditation sessions for district leaders and work from an external public relations firm. The district has since paused certain contracts and put provisions in place for additional budget oversight.
Until recently, the school district was also in a protracted dispute with the city over sharing revenue from a special tax district in the Shoreline area. For months, the district wouldn’t sign a three-year deal that the city had on the table, instead putting forth its own one-year deal. The school board ultimately backtracked and agreed to the terms at an Oct. 17 meeting.
The district also may end up undergoing a type of state audit meant to investigate possible fraud, misappropriation of funds or other illegal fiscal practices. Santa Clara County’s superintendent of schools referred Mountain View Whisman to the state for what’s known as an “extraordinary audit.” The county hasn’t said what specific concerns prompted the referral.
Taking a leave of absence
Rudolph has been out on a leave of absence since Oct. 7. The district didn’t give a reason for the leave when it was announced, and Rudolph didn’t respond to a request for comment at the time.
Chief Academic Officer Cathy Baur initially filled in for Rudolph at the start of his leave, but the board later brought on Kevin Skelly to be interim superintendent starting on Oct. 25.
Skelly was also interim superintendent before Rudolph was hired in 2015. He came on board temporarily after the previous superintendent, Craig Goldman, resigned at the end of 2014.
When Goldman resigned, he received a substantially larger lump sum payment than it appears Rudolph is set to receive. At the time, the district agreed to pay Goldman $231,567, equivalent to 12 months salary. The severance package was controversial at the time.
Skelly sent a brief email to families on Friday afternoon, informing them that the school board “will be considering a resignation agreement” with Rudolph at its Nov. 7 meeting, and that he anticipates the board will formally approve his hiring as interim superintendent at that time. He did not provide additional information about Rudolph’s resignation.
In his letter, Rudolph noted various successes the district has seen over the past decade, including establishing a literacy team, providing free internet to students throughout the city, reaching multi-year union agreements, increasing teacher salaries, building affordable teacher and staff housing, and making upgrades to school campuses.
“It is my firm belief that every community gets the schools that it deserves, and I am eager to watch, from a distance, how that continues to unfold for MVWSD in the future,” Rudolph wrote. “Mountain View Whisman is composed of so many amazing people at every level who are committed to assuring the success of every student.”
I wonder how the noisy parents view their effect on mental wellness for district employees.
Well the Chakra money wasn’t effective either I suppose
@Ramirez Sounds like you need to chill out. Maybe over a slice of cheese pizza?
It’s hard to not be empathetic to someone wanting to take care of their health and spend time with their family. It’s also a trusty public relations spin. I suspect there’s a lot more to this story that we may never know.
@Ramirez… What exactly are you referring to? Kudos to the noisy parents who when middle school classes were threatened with cuts, investigated the budget themselves — and stumbled on the contract for the chakra clearer’s services. The school district, run by Superintendent Ayindé Rudolph, has also splurged on leadership coaching, paying a public relations firm and executive coach alongside Diggs-Chavis to guide staff and that staff did not include the school teachers (at least the ones I know). If the district approves his resignation he will be allowed 12 months of salary and health benefits which no doubt he is counting on. He should just be let go with no benefits, but no doubt he is savvy enough to have negotiated a generous separation agreement.
“If the district approves his resignation he will be allowed 12 months of salary and health benefits”
Is this in his contract clause or are you speculating? This hasn’t been released. Is it coincidence that this resignation is announced the weekend before Election Day?
Why is MV City Council candidate and current MVWSD board president Devon Conley waiting until November 7 (AFTER the election) to reveal the terms of Rudolph’s proposed “separation agreement” aka BIG PAYOUT.
This has happened time and again at MVWSD, big payouts of 12 months salary and health benefits to departing superintendents. Hundreds of thousands of dollars that could have been spent IN THE CLASSROOM.
Voting NO on Measure AA.
What a disastrous run for the district. I encourage parents to keep digging into the questionable spending. The entire board has chosen not to run for reelection while the Supe is getting a golden parachute. There’s a lot more going on here. The grift goes deep. Also, we need an accounting of how he treated concerned parents.
Devon Conley is running for City Council – what a disaster.
I believe the agenda for the Nov. 7 Board meeting must be made public 72 hours in advance, so by late afternoon on Monday Nov. 4, the day before the election. Regardless of the terms of his resignation payout, the fact that he’s gone means that I will now be able to vote for Measure AA, the parcel tax. I hope the 3 new School Board Members will be able to find an outstanding replacement for Mr. Rudolph.
How do I get this kind of job? One where no matter how badly I fail, I come out ahead?
Dr. Rudolph received not only a good salary but also special perks like a generous low-interest housing loan.
In return, he picked a fight with everyone he could, including parents during the pandemic, Monta Loma neighbors over the park, and the City over the park and taxes. He gave outrageous sums of money to his friends under the guise of leadership coaching and the like, drawing a state audit for fraud and literally making our district into an international laughingstock written about in the likes of the Daily Mail.
Meanwhile, my son is in a combined 4th/5th grade class because they aren’t willing to hire enough teachers.
Instead of being fired, Dr. Rudolph gets to announce a resignation for health/family reasons and apparently will get some kind of resignation agreement (more money?).
I said that I would support AA when Sup left and keeping to my word just voted yes on AA. Now for the board that’s keeping things secret, not a chance will they get my support for Council…
I voted no for the parcel tax. Rudolph’s resignation is a good first step to re-earning trust, but he didn’t do this alone. The board and other staff at the district office were either asleep or complicit. Did any of them ever challenge him?
I’m mixed now on following @Active Voter. 4 sure / no vote for Conley to join City Council. But she as President must have negotiated or had her heavy hand on the monetary deal for Rudolph to resign (just as she had her heavy hand in the 3 yr. ++ contract extension for Rudolph). I really worry about at least Lisa Henry – (as Trustee) for she is heavily endorsed by both leaving Blakely and (staying?) Conley.
Maybe Conley et al negotiated a good deal (quick exit) but very clearly to me and others – Conley and Blakely especially were sorely remiss in their ability to provide good (adequate even) oversight. Seems same-old-same-old without a major shakeup / no more friends of Wheeler/Blakely running things???
Election Day may be the day to start a Recall Conley effort. Doubt she will make it into City Council.
Good to see Paagal has brought his Reddit diatribes to a more academic setting.
By Noisy, I am referring to the parents that made false claims against the district and the Supt that were proven to be false (my favorite being the DC trip was a junket).
Now many of the things they complained about were true and rightfully brought up, a lot were basically lies (eg the district wasn’t allowed to spend Parcel tax money on PE…which is false)
Let’s see what the 40% appreciation share amounts to. This may have actually been a decent deal for the District.
I am not using Reddit, but whatever.
I do think that the MV Voice deserves a lot of credit in covering this scandal. We are lucky to have good reporting in our community.
The biggest shame is that the board was, to put it mildly, asleep at the wheel on the outlandish spending. The DC trip was self promotional at the same time schools were suffering
On cue all these people speculated and swore they knew what was going to happen…until the agreement came out. 3 months is just on for 7, 9 years of service? I don’t think you’ll find any separation agreement that makes the district better off (besides zero). Feels like a good deal for the District versus if they fired him. Then they absolutely have to give him 12 months!!!!! Plus he would get unemployment!
Paagal “the entire board has not run for reelection?” Thats just not true. There are two members not of the board not up for reelection. So they are not running.
I stand corrected. Those who were up for reelection aren’t running this board. Having done long lasting damage, however, Devon Conley believes she can scale up to City Council….which is rich
Robin, your comment did not age well.
Let’s not forget the superintendent who preceded Goldman (https://www.mv-voice.com/news/2009/10/26/ghysels-confirms-relationship-with-principal/). MV must and can do better but the Board should be held accountable and members seeking council election should NOT be supported. If what happened to MVWSD happened under their watch, just imagine what they could do for the City.
$400K per year salary, and backrubs and other perks, too? It seems irresponsible.
Remember when the district built out all the sites so that they would be able to handle 6000 students? It still hasn’t happened though all the construction was complete years ago. The district didn’t lose any funding though because its local property tax and other funding gives them twice what the same number of students would get under LCFF (aka not a Basic Aid district). So the fewer kids the more excess money there is for operating.
Tal, $400k is a bargain for a CEO. If you wonder why good people go to private schools instead of public service, it’s because people like you complain about salaries that are already too low. Imagine the talent we would get if we offered $600k.
Do you go cheap and complain about the price of all your important services? I hope you shop around for your next surgery…the surgeons will love you!