On March 9, at a meeting of the Aromas-San Juan Unified School Board of Trustees, the Aromas-San Juan Teachers Association (ASJTA) announced a vote by members of “no confidence” in School Superintendent Michele Huntoon.
The vote was held by ASJTA members in the district’s three schools: Aromas School, San Juan School, and Anzar High School. According to ASJTA Vice President Robert Huneywell, 45 of the 52 members of the association voted in the election, which was held between Feb. 28 and March 4.
ASJTA President Grace Rosa said the association is not seeking to end the remaining two years of Huntoon’s contract with the district.
“It would be a very expensive toll to pay off her contract and hire a new superintendent,” she said. “We would like to see the board take responsibility—if we, as teachers, have contracts, we feel the superintendent should be given goals to work on as well and there needs to be follow-through. Actual measurable goals that we can judge when her contract comes up again in two years. At the moment, morale is very low and the schools are not running as they should be.”
The resolution states that 93.5% of the members, which Huneywell said represents 42 of the 45 members who participated, voted “no confidence.”
Huntoon was unwilling to respond when contacted by BenitoLink on March 18 and did not respond to subsequent attempts for comment. BenitoLink also reached out to the Aromas-San Juan School Board members and did not receive responses.
The resolution offers four points of contention with Huntoon:
- Ignoring the deteriorating conditions in our schools, and creating an unsafe environment for students and staff.
- Failing to provide leadership and communication desperately needed to improve our schools.
- Ignoring and marginalizing the voices of staff, students and the school community.
- Unilaterally implementing unsound policies and practices that are harmful to students and that have left employees deflated and broken.
Huneywell said the points in the resolution were based on very specific failings. For example, while the state-mandated yearly School Accountability Report Card declares that the grounds and classrooms at Anzar High are in good condition, Huneywell said the school has had no repairs apart from instances of severe damage.
“Nothing that would endanger a student,” he said, “but no additional money was allocated for anything beyond that. They kept referencing a five-year maintenance plan, but when we inquired about it, nobody could produce it. It was not until a bond was passed that we started getting work done on the school.”
Rosa said that there has been a significant lack of communication between Huntoon and the teachers as well as a lack of input.
“With the previous leadership, we would be asked about things, whether we were on a committee or just one-on-one,” Rosa said. “Even with simple things like supplies. It was typically done at the office level before, with each principal ordering supplies for their schools. I think the principals know best what their school and teachers need. But now it is very top-down and the principals no longer have free access to their budgets. It causes things to get backed up and we typically have to start the year without our supplies. We have a hefty cash reserve and this should not be a problem.”
One example Rosa gave was that current rules only allow for one box of crayons for every four students when previously it would have been one for every two students. Rosa said that teachers also no longer have the prerogative to ask for certain brands of supplies they prefer. Huneywell agrees that Huntoon’s austerity has become a problem.
“There are many people who are not happy with how she has allocated our funding,” he said. “We have obviously solidified our budget, but we have gone on hoarding money way beyond what is needed.”
In some cases, a tight watch on district funds has caused dissatisfaction with the staff. Huneywell gave the example of one teacher who had arranged personal time off when she lost a family member.
“When Huntoon found out about it,” Huneywell said, “she demanded the member repay the days she was gone. She did not look at that person as someone who was having a problem and needed support, but rather as someone trying to take money from the district.”
Huntoon was hired by the district in 2016 as an interim business manager but quickly was elevated to interim superintendent when the previous superintendent left the district.
“The district needed an interim superintendent and they only had a month to think about it,” Huneywell said. “They appointed Huntoon, even though there were some issues at the time about her qualifications. Part of being an administrator is having an admin credential, which is a program you have to go through. Although she had been an accountant, her actual teaching, it is safe to say, was non-existent.”
A formal search for a superintendent was halted, Huneywell said, when the school board balked at the price of hiring consultants, and instead acquired a waiver that allowed Huntoon to continue in the job.
“For some people, her lack of experience shows when you try to work with her and she does not understand what this industry is,” Huneywell said. “It can be quite maddening. She has no clue about our basic hallmark programs. In six years, she visited me once. There are only 50-some teachers and you would think that she could have come more often.”
We need your help. Support local, nonprofit news! BenitoLink is a nonprofit news website that reports on San Benito County. Our team is committed to this community and providing essential, accurate information to our fellow residents. It is expensive to produce local news and community support is what keeps the news flowing. Please consider supporting BenitoLink, San Benito County’s public service, nonprofit news.