Gateway Will Consider Appointing A Superintendent: Here’s What Board Policies, And California Law, Require

Tonight, January 18, at 5 pm, the Gateway Unified School District Board will meet again, this time to consider appointing a new district superintendent.

Bryan Caples, whose teaching and administrative credentials were just temporarily suspended by the state of California, is widely-believed to be the candidate the Board is considering appointing to the superintendent position. According to California law, an individual without a valid teaching and administration credential is ineligible to serve as a school district superintendent. 

It’s the Board’s fifth meeting in just over a month. During that series of meetings, Board members on December 20 fired the District’s long-standing superintendent then voted on January 4 on how to recruit a new one. Their failure to include public comment before that vote led to a January 6 cautionary legal warning from the California Teachers Association alleging the Board had violated public transparency law by failing to include the public’s voice. In response, Gateway Board members met again January 12, and voted to rescind previous votes on superintendent recruitment without taking any further action.

Tonight, the Board will first discuss how to recruit and select a superintendent in open session before moving to closed session to discuss “Public Employment Appointment Superintendent.”

It’s unclear how the Board has reached the point of considering the appointment of a new superintendent without having first followed its own recruitment and selection policy, which requires the Board to publicly discuss how to search for a superintendent, what screening criteria to use for applicants, or what interview questions will be asked. 

California Education Code states that the governing board of each school district is required to set and follow internal rules, or policies. Gateway’s policy on board governance also specifies that the Board must follow board-adopted policies and procedures.

While Gateway’s website states that the Board’s January 18 open session won’t begin until 6 pm, the Board’s agenda shows closed-session items starting at 5 pm. The meeting will be held at the Gateway District Board Room at 4411 Mountain Lakes Blvd in Redding. The agenda can be found here.

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Related coverage:

• Parents, Staff, Former Student Show Up As Gateway School Board Reverses Prior Action On Superintendent Recruitment
• Gateway Unified School District Board Terminates Superintendent Jim Harrell Without Cause
• Tension, Transparency Concerns, Take Center Stage In Latest Gateway Unified School District Board Meeting
• California Teachers Union Warns Gateway School Board Of Alleged Multiple Violations of Public Transparency Law