The Gateway Unified School District (GUSD) serves approximately 2,200 children in Shasta County, including one of the largest per capita percentages of Native students. In late 2022 a new Board majority instituted a series of actions that have worried many in the community. Find our coverage here.
Under California Education law school district boards must follow their own publicly-approved policies. For Gateway, those policies include a series of considerations regarding how to recruit and select a superintendent. The Board must also follow California law which states that superintendents must hold valid teaching and administration credentials.
The cautionary legal notice describes the actions of the Gateway Board at its latest public meeting as “profoundly undemocratic” and “unlawful,” alleging the school board violated California’s public transparency law by engaging in whispered discussions and by voting on how to recruit a new superintendent without first hearing public comment.
The meeting included a series of votes on how the district would pursue recruitment of a new superintendent. The board's process angered the public, overlooked its own policies, and appears to have violated the Brown Act.
Over a hundred community members showed up, most in support of the Superintendent. The decision was made by three newly elected members of the board who gave no indication for why they were terminating Harrell.
