Welcome to the MVWSD, Principals Lee, Olaciregui, and Williams!

Serious question for other parents (and hoping for real--not inflammatory--responses): This seems like a lot of turnover, although I don't keep track of other districts to be able to compare. Why is there this level of turnover in MVWSD?

@parent
You ask why the level of turnover in the district - Rudolph arrived in 2015 and the turnover has been constant since then. Many people have said that he is a bully, which would explain the turnover. Who wants to work in that environment? It's time the Board opened their eyes and showed him the door.

@parent

Rudolph nor the Board will ever take credit for their failures. Their egos just keep getting in the way. They just bully and blame and gin up a lot of excuses. Wheeler is the worst. Gutierrez is an even bigger bully with an inferiority complex to boost. Blakey is naive. Wilson? Just ridiculous. They claim together they make informed decisions based on cumulative years of experience expertise. And then they go silent 2-3 years later when their plans produce even more chaos.

Why why does the district keep doing this to these innocent elementary school children? These kids need continuity and stability and they get attached and close to a principal and then in a year or two the principal is moved. The children are already going through a very difficult time during this pandemic with distance learning and now on top of that the district goes and does this. Do they not have a heart? These types of moves impact these children specially at this young age. My child was in tears after hearing about Ms.Dagar not being there when they eventually go to school. This needs to stop please..

You ask why so many turnovers, it’s hard be effective And do a great job if you live in fear for your job. To put things in perspective at the very first administration retreat when Rudolf came on board, one of the very first things said that day was “ I can just fire all of you”. Very prophetic. Don’t you think?

I was also there and can confirm Rudolph's statement at his first administrative retreat. And add to that his leadership style includes demeaning statements, raising his voice, accusatory tones, no genuine respect for women, and will misrepresent the truth, otherwise known as lying. And he's leading your schools and has your board enamored and fooled.

I am sorry that the people in Dr. Rudolph's meeting - posting above - did not bother to privately contact me with their concerns WHEN IT HAPPENED and when I WAS ON THE BOARD. Did you later contact Member Coladonado? Two members of the Board may consult together on such oversight matters. That IS NOT a violation of Brown Act!

If you just accept that there is No Effective Oversight by a Board - then there will IN FACT be no effective oversight by a Board! This is true now, where there are not even two Trustees that will stand up to the Chief administrator, and keep him in line (in line - with community and workforce expectations).

You get the government that you elect. Please work for the rotation of the two incumbent Trustee off of the Board in this coming November general election. Otherwise this style of administration / lack of strong legislation (Board) oversight / will continue.

I can confirm that Rudolph made the statement the very first time he met most of his administrative team. What an introduction. He also jumps to conclusions without evidence and refuses to change his mind when he is presented with evidence that doesn’t support his conclusion. Not an example I want set for the children of Mountain View.

It is finally coming to light that the people who were in the room where it happened are standing up and telling the truth of Rudolph’s leadership style.
Demeaning, threatening, bullying, condescending to the the foot soldiers in his army. Instead of building up he tears down. All of these things have been said before but the board doesn’t seem to care how he leads. What do they see in him? Yes he is flashy and maybe could be seen as charming when not behind closed doors. is this the kind of leader that Mountain View wants leading our children??

First, let me echo the welcome to our new principals! It’s a challenging time to be stepping into new leadership roles at our schools and these folks should be commended for taking on the task.

Do I think the principal turnover rate in MVWSD is too high? Yes.

Is the dialogue on this topic too polarized? Absolutely. There is always going to be some turnover and some of it might be desirable. Accountability, personal needs, career growth - all valid reasons. And I’m pretty sure that if one looks beneath the curtain of confidentiality that is school district personnel decision-making, one will find sound reasoning for most of not all departures.

That doesn’t mean we need to live with that. We can select leaders who want to be here longer than their predecessors. We can look at whether or not there are positive, growth-oriented relationships with senior district leaders which have our principals wanting to stay in their roles. We can ask whether or not they are resourced to get their day job done. We can continue to push for housing policies that make it possible for leaders and their families to stay. We can look very closely at District hiring processes and see how they can be better, so that we make the best decisions we can up-front. And we can ask MVWSD to be more transparent about the results we all get when a leader is moved into the district office.

Principal changes do thrash school communities. Our son had three different principals in his six years at Monta Loma, and two new principals during our time at Crittenden, so we’ve seen it first-hand and can relate to the frustrations many have. While some of this might be unavoidable, I would love to see our district find a way to do better.

I experienced the lies and bullying first hand from Carmen when we moved into MVWSD. This behavior was supported by the Superintendent. Throughout our years here, I have been repeatedly frustrated that neither the Board nor District leadership exhibits child-centric decision making. MVWSD is a diverse community with a variety of interests, but the guiding principle should be “what’s in the best interests of the students?” This does not seem to be at the forefront of many decisions.

The recent outpouring of concern regarding a large retention incentive for the Superintendent demonstrates the growing level of community frustration. Were the departing principals offered large retention bonuses? If not, are “retention decisions” being made in the best interests of the students?

Yes, people will make career decisions for a variety of reasons. The concerning part of the posts here is that there is a consistent narrative about Rudolph being a bully and demeaning people who work in the district. That is a huge problem. It's time for the board to talk with some of the people who have left recently so that they can get a true feeling for what is going on in the district. What say you board members?

You’ve got a bad Superintendent, it’s as simple as that. It has been a source of comedy to watch your school board try to work around that, as well as the district leadership team balance the reality of chaotic leadership with the need to protect their careers by pretending that Superintendent Rudolph is somehow going to turn this dumpster fire around. No other Bay Area district has had so much principal turnover without a change in the Superintendent. Good luck with your new hires.

Voters: please think about these comments as you think about retaining candidate Laura Blakely on the MVWSD governing board. She is 'the status quo' and you can tell from her answers and introduction/conclusion remarks that she intends to continuing to be a "Trustee" in a defer to the Superintendent way.

It is your choice, and your vote.

Sorry - here is the link to the candidate forum YouTube for the MVWSD.

Web Link