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After discussing the superintendent’s performance behind closed doors three times in the past month, the Mountain View Los Altos High School District’s board declined to vote on extending his contract Monday evening.
The trustees were scheduled to vote to add another year to Superintendent Eric Volta’s employment agreement at the June 15 meeting, but board President Thida Cornes instead announced that no formal action was necessary to keep Volta at the helm.
First hired in 2024, Volta’s contract stipulates that each time he receives a positive annual evaluation, the board will extend his employment by one year and give him a raise that matches or exceeds inflation.
“After reviewing the terms of the agreement with legal counsel, the board has determined that a separate action addressing the contract duration is unnecessary as the contract is self-renewing. Accordingly, no board action is required,” Cornes announced Monday.
Volta told the Voice that the board had not yet taken a vote on his performance evaluation, and that his contract was therefore not extended. The existing agreement runs through June 2028.
In response to multiple questions from the Voice, Cornes declined to comment on “personnel matters.” She would not say whether or not Volta received a positive evaluation this year or why the board opted against taking a vote, as it did last year.
In 2025, the trustees voted 4-0 to renew Volta’s contract through June 2028 and to give him a 2.8% raise, which matched inflation.
This time around, the board was expected to vote on giving Volta a 2% raise, according to Monday’s meeting agenda. That mirrors the increase that teachers will receive next school year, but is below the 3.8% regional inflation rate.
The board did not vote on the raise Monday, which Volta attributed to the lack of a formal performance evaluation. Cornes declined to comment on whether a future vote is planned, as well as why the planned increase falls below inflation.
