Acting Principal Adam Paulson has officially applied to become the permanent principal for the 2018-19 school year.
Matt Hall, Education Council member and Student Activities Director, has confirmed that Paulson has submitted his application for principal. Paulson, an administrator since the fall of 2014, became acting principal this Monday.
According to Assistant Principal of Operations Jerry Berkson, the Superintendent and the Palo Alto Unified School District (PAUSD) Board of Education will make the final decision, but will take a variety of feedback and opinions into the selection process. The Board has been gathering input from the community about what they want to see in a principal through open forums with parents, staff and students. The parent and staff meeting took place on April 9. Students can also provide input about what they want to see in a principal at an open forum with the Board on April 24 at lunch in the Media Arts Center (MAC).
“Information [from the input sessions] will be gathered and reviewed by the Superintendent, who makes the final decision on who to hire as principal.”
Victoria Kim, Assistant Principal of Student Services
Instead of directly appointing a principal, the Board is accepting applications.
“The Superintendent has the ability to appoint the person as principal, but it’s always better for a position like principal of a large high school to gather input from all stakeholders to make an informed and wise decision,” Kim said.
According to Berkson, in addition to allowing for a larger candidate pool, the Superintendent and the Board of Education also decided to allow for applications for the position of principal this year because they have the time to find a permanent principal.
Since the Superintendent and the Board of Education are looking to find a principal for the upcoming school year, the reviewing timeline for applicants is rapidly progressing, and the results will be announced soon.
“I want to say interviews are around the 27 [of April]. I think everyone wants to get things rolling for next year.”
Jerry Berkson
Former Acting Principal Frank Rodriguez is no longer carrying out his temporary position as principal, according to Berkson.
“Mr. Rodriguez will step into an [assistant principal] roll,” Berkson said. “It’s based on a retirement season where you can work [a limited] amount of days a year.”
Berkson’s biggest concern is maintaining the efficiency that was established with the current administration team.
“Continuity is a big thing in my mind, so hopefully that is considered because we have a good team here,” Berkson said.
Kathy Jordan • Apr 20, 2018 at 5:26 pm
According to the Nov. 2015 family, Mr. Paulson has been implicated for mishandling the response to the Nov. 2015 sexual assault incident. Administrators who caused harm to students, and did not provide them access to their education, which is what the Nov. 2015 family asserts Mr. Paulson did, should not be in positions of authority over children, let alone be promoted.
Not providing students equal access to their education is deemed discrimination, by Title IX and state law. These are not small issues and policies were already in place; Mr. Paulson just didn’t follow them, nor did Ms. Kim, according to the Nov. 2015 family.
PAUSD – why are you waiting to release the Cozen report on the Nov. 2015 incident that you have already received in March, and that we taxpayers will have to pay for? If these administrators are cleared of all wrongdoing, why not release it? And why not release it prior to considering Mr. Paulson’s application for Paly principal?