The Pleasanton school district's board of trustees is set to accept tonight the resignation of Jan Steed, former principal of Walnut Grove Elementary who was reassigned in January to a new district position as assistant director of adult/career technical education.
Steed's resignation will be accepted in a personnel document package during approval of the consent agenda, which is made up of items considered routine and is voted upon once as a group of several items.
Steed was hired for the newly created position in January after two years as Walnut Grove's principal. Chris Connor took over as interim principal in mid-January.
Steed, whose resignation takes effect June 30, said via email that she has been told to direct all questions to the district's human resources department.
District spokesman Patrick Gannon confirmed Steed had resigned from the district. He said he couldn't comment on why she resigned but said her position will be posted soon.
Also at Tuesday's meeting, the board will also hear presentations on the second interim report for the district's budget as of Jan. 31.
Some highlights of that report are that the Local Control Funding Formula -- part of the district's revenue -- increased about $66,000 since the last report, slightly closing a funding gap. The supplemental budget, which is used to provide services to socio-economically disadvantaged, foster care and English-language learner students, was increased from $2 million to $2.1 million.
The proposed general fund ending balance is projected to be $16.7 million, increased from $16.4 as stated in the last budget update.
Staff also noted the district's costs overall are expected to increase in the next seven years since the district's required share of retirement costs will nearly double over that time.
Comments
Hart Middle School
on Mar 7, 2016 at 9:36 am
on Mar 7, 2016 at 9:36 am
Please help support our principals and stop the revolving door. Let PUSD know we are tired of it. Our kids deserve more stability.
Please copy the link below into your web browser and sign the petition to stop the reassignment of Conde.
Web Link
Another Pleasanton neighborhood
on Mar 7, 2016 at 9:43 am
on Mar 7, 2016 at 9:43 am
Please support our teachers, too, who often have to struggle with incompetent, bullying principals..We have some GREAT principals in Pleasanton...most of them, in fact, are superior..We also have the other kind..Hopefully Jim Hansen can weed out the latter.
Walnut Grove Elementary School
on Mar 7, 2016 at 10:10 am
on Mar 7, 2016 at 10:10 am
All I can say is Walnut Grove is a MUCH better place right now with the addition of Chris Connor. He's brought a new life to the school that everyone so desperately needed. Good riddance to Jan Steed from our district. Time to move forward.
Another Pleasanton neighborhood
on Mar 7, 2016 at 10:15 am
on Mar 7, 2016 at 10:15 am
Yes, Chris Connor is great, from what I have heard..Could we please get more like him???????
He is the sort of principal we need and want in Pleasanton.
Old Towne
on Mar 7, 2016 at 10:26 am
on Mar 7, 2016 at 10:26 am
A principal is authorized to be leader, mentor and disciplinarian. [removed]
Another Pleasanton neighborhood
on Mar 7, 2016 at 10:50 am
on Mar 7, 2016 at 10:50 am
Wow, you must hate our kids to post that sort of trash talk.. Most of the great teachers we have here in Pleasanton LOVE our kids...as do MOST of our principals...
Registered user
Another Pleasanton neighborhood
on Mar 7, 2016 at 4:43 pm
Registered user
on Mar 7, 2016 at 4:43 pm
We need a union to protect the principals in our district, just like the teachers and support staff have unions.
Registered user
Parkside
on Mar 7, 2016 at 7:57 pm
Registered user
on Mar 7, 2016 at 7:57 pm
I do believe they "created" a position so they could move her out of Walnut Grove. And now she doesn't like it...oh well, move on then.
Registered user
Another Pleasanton neighborhood
on Mar 8, 2016 at 4:21 pm
Registered user
on Mar 8, 2016 at 4:21 pm
Those of you running to support Conde, you don't know the whole story. She has had many chances to correct the problems that she faces, and was unable to do it. There is a whole thread dedicated to this a couple weeks back.
And the "revolving door" of principals mentioned, is frankly not that uncommon. Site administration is a very, very hard job, and it's not for everyone. I considered doing it, even took the classes, but realized that was not a good fit for me for many reasons. Most of the changes in the last few years have been due to retirement (when Hansen left, he had been in Pleasanton for a long time, as had Whitney), and promotions to the district office. If you look now, there is decreased movement and more stability, but with seventeen schools, there will always be transitions happening. Being a site principal for more than ten years is very unusual.
Registered user
Another Pleasanton neighborhood
on Mar 9, 2016 at 9:48 am
Registered user
on Mar 9, 2016 at 9:48 am
Get the facts, why do you know the full story? Are you one of Conde's superiors? Diane Howell, Dr Odie Douglass or Jim Hansen? Because if you aren't one of those people YOU shouldn't know the whole story. The only people that should know the whole story of Conde's employment are the people she works UNDER and not her staff.
Teachers are not the supervisors of the principals, or at least they shouldn't be.
Registered user
Another Pleasanton neighborhood
on Mar 9, 2016 at 5:25 pm
Registered user
on Mar 9, 2016 at 5:25 pm
@ AnonName88, I do not know the whole story, I didn't say that I did. I agree that if you are not one the people mentioned above, or maybe a few others, you don't know the full story. But in the earlier thread about Conde (I can't seem to find it, or I would have posted a link), a Hart teacher posted about some of the problems at the site.
Registered user
Another Pleasanton neighborhood
on Mar 10, 2016 at 11:51 am
Registered user
on Mar 10, 2016 at 11:51 am
Generally when someone says "you don't know the full story" they are inferring they DO know the whole story. Thanks for clearing it up that you don't know the full story either.