Stockton Unified has terminated its controversial employment contract — or resignation agreement, depending on whom you ask — with its former district superintendent, John Ramirez Jr.
The SUSD Board of Education voted in closed session this week “to terminate the employment of superintendent emeritus,” the title given to Ramirez when he resigned last June, “effective as soon as notice can be provided.”
Interim Superintendent Traci Miller and board trustees were put on notice by the San Joaquin County Office of Education in August for likely violating California’s public-meeting law in approving a new employment contract for Ramirez when he resigned. Stockton Unified officials at the time disputed the county’s characterization of the district’s contract with Ramirez, describing it as simply a resignation agreement with an honorary title and severance package.
However, per the county’s instructions, the board put the item back on its agenda in September and reapproved the agreement during a public meeting session.
Ramirez’s termination comes on the heels of a changing of the guard at Stockton Unified following the November Election that saw Trustee AngelAnn Flores, who often served as the lone dissenting vote in many of the board’s more controversial decisions, taking over board leadership as the new president in December.
Announcement of the closed-session decision to terminate Ramirez was given by Vice President Kennetha Stevens at the board’s Tuesday meeting without fanfare or discussion. …
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Cassie Dickman 