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Livermore school trustees agreed unanimously Tuesday to appoint Michelle Pechette as the district’s acting superintendent to fill the leadership void left after Torie Gibson’s sudden departure four nights earlier.
Pechette, previously the assistant superintendent of educational services, first joined the Livermore Valley Joint Unified School District early in the 2024-25 school year, coming over from Amador County where she worked under Gibson.
Following the closed session vote to temporarily elevate Pechette, the LVJUSD Board of Education also agreed 5-0 to form an ad hoc committee composed of trustees Emily Prusso and Craig Bueno to immediately begin searching for an interim superintendent. Following the committee’s process, they are set to bring to the full board a recommended candidate for approval.
Meanwhile, trustees are tasked with making approximately $14.8 million in ongoing budget cuts for the 2026-27 school year — work they plan to continue during the search for an interim — and district employees must be notified of their potential layoff by March 15.
“The budget reduction process has been especially contentious up to this moment,” Board President Steven Drouin said, also indicating no issue with the assistant superintendents and department directors. “I think that we need an outside person to step in and help facilitate this process and get us across the finish line.”
Ahead of the board’s vote to form an ad hoc committee, union presidents reported to trustees their memberships’ votes of no confidence in Gibson – decisions reached prior to her Feb. 6 departure.
According to Livermore Education Association President Aimee Thompson, 90% of permanent LEA members cast votes of no confidence in Gibson, as did 90% of members from the classified union, the California School Employees Association.
The votes expressed a collective disapproval of Gibson due to mismanagement of the district budget, failure to engage with certified and classified staff, and poor leadership as well as actions that eroded morale and trust in leadership, CSEA President Mamie Kristovich said.
Thompson and Kristovich each asked to be included in the process of selecting an interim superintendent as well as a permanent leader.
With regard to the budget situation, Thompson offered strategies such as closing nonessential purchase orders, position control within each bargaining unit and searching for restricted funds that can be used to free up unrestricted dollars.
“These are smart business strategies that have somehow been overlooked by this administration,” Thompson said, calling out Gibson attending a professional symposium from Jan. 27-29 at the Renaissance Esmeralda Resort & Spa in the Southern California city of Indian Wells.
Thompson pointed to purchase orders for at least $2,350 in unrestricted funds labeled “sup & board” connected to the Association of California School Administrators conference, but Livermore Vine learned after the meeting that not all of the trip costs were covered by the district as implied by the two union presidents.
The symposium’s registration fee and airfare were booked well in advance and paid for by the district, but the purchase order for the hotel expenses was canceled, according to LVJUSD spokesperson Michelle Dawson. It appears Gibson covered lodging and on-the-ground expenses herself.
“While this is not an enormous amount of money, it all adds up. This type of spending exemplifies a true lack of understanding and accountability by the people who were supposed to be scrutinizing our budget,” Thompson told the trustees Tuesday.
“If the leaders of our district are spending money on things like symposiums, then what other expenditures are being approved that shouldn’t be?” Kristovich added.
Kicking off the board’s discussion on how to find an interim superintendent, Drouin offered options including forming an ad hoc committee, a full-board search as well as asking Pechette to remain at the helm for the remainder of the school year or longer.
In favor of the ad hoc option, Drouin said the group could begin working immediately without concern over the Brown Act, which requires the public posting of agendas ahead of any meetings that include the majority of the board.
If the goal is to find an interim superintendent ahead of March 15 to include their input in budgeting solutions, then an ad hoc committee is the best choice, Drouin said.
The committee may not succeed in finding an interim, Bueno noted, but he also expressed support for the group’s formation.
“If you don’t explore it, and explore it quickly and nimbly, then we might be selling ourselves short and preventing ourselves from having a potential aid in this process,” Bueno said.
As part of a separate, but unanimous vote, trustees agreed that the most senior members of the board should serve on the committee.
Prusso and Bueno have been on the board under three different superintendents, two of which they were involved in onboarding, Drouin explained.
Trustee Christiaan VandenHeuvel expressed his support for Prusso’s and Bueno’s role on the committee, but initially questioned whether trust could be built with the community by placing Trustee Deena Kaplanis or himself on the committee since they were not involved in selecting Gibson.
Met with applause, Bueno said that the key factors of being on the committees were one’s connectedness with the community as well as familiarity with the education process and Alameda County Office of Education.
As for the board’s initial direction on finding an interim, Drouin said the individual would likely serve through the end of the school year. The person should also be able to repair relationships and have budgetary experience, he added.
Kaplanis requested that an accountability measure be placed for review of the interim’s performance, something that Prusso said could be satisfied with a review during every closed session.
Editor’s note: This story has been updated to clarify that LVJUSD did not cover all expenses related to Gibson’s attendance at the ACSA conference in January.
