A new assistant superintendent hired by the Santa Barbara Unified School District resigned from his top post at the Beloit School District in Wisconsin in January 2020, just before officials were set to launch a formal investigation into his professional behavior.
Stanley Munro stepped down from his job as superintendent, and the Beloit board of trustees approved the resignation at a Jan. 15, 2020, meeting, according to the Beloit School District agenda.
Munro was facing allegations of “intimidation” and “bullying.”
Three employees filed complaints against Munro, including a security guard who alleged retaliation, harassment and improper disciplinary action over a Facebook post in support of teachers, according to the Beloit Daily News.
Two other people who filed complaints against Munro, including the executive director of business, human resources and operations, and the executive director of school leadership, accused Munro of “berating and retaliating against staff,” according to the Beloit Daily News.
After Munro resigned, the district declined to do an investigation. Then, on Feb. 25, the district’s legal team sent a cease and desist letter to Munro.
“Specifically, during working hours you have been contacting district personnel for the apparent purpose of seeking ‘insider information’ regarding the new administration, and generally contacting people and making them feel uncomfortable,” the letter in the Beloit Daily News states. “This conduct is interfering with district personnel’s ability to perform their job and disrupting the educational environment.”
Santa Barbara Unified Superintendent Hilda Maldonado, in a statement issued through district spokesman Nick Masuda, defended Munro.
“While we cannot get into specifics of the happenings in Beloit, we can unequivocally state that Dr. Munro has gone through a thorough vetting process, and that his immense skill set will undoubtedly be a huge asset to our district and to our community,” Maldonado said in the statement.
“At no time has Dr. Munro shied away from answering questions about his time in Wisconsin, and we found him to be incredibly transparent, which is what our community demands of all of us.”
Munro did not respond to four attempts over four days to reach him for this story — three through email and one by telephone. He currently works as the principal of the 734-student Ayer Elementary School in Fresno.
Maldonado said Munro will start in Santa Barbara in July, and that he understands the questions about his past.
“He has even gone as far as telling us that he understands the scrutiny, but that it’s worth it because the mission of his work and that of the SBUSD are closely intertwined, which will allow him to hit the ground running.”
The district issued a press release last Thursday announcing that Maldonado had hired Munro as assistant superintendent of elementary education, and ShaKenya Edison as assistant superintendent of student services.
While Edison’s work history was detailed in the district statement, Munro’s work history was conspicuously absent.
Masuda on Monday provided Noozhawk with a LinkedIn link for Munro’s work history. The profile states that since March 2020 until present, his job is as “superintendent in residence and executive coach at San Diego State University,” although Masuda confirmed that Munro currently works at Ayer Elementary.
The LinkedIn profile states that Munro, a graduate of Harvard University, worked as superintendent in Beloit from July 2019 to January 2020. It’s unclear how long he has worked at Ayer Elementary.
Munro also has a master’s degree in education from Johns Hopkins University, and a doctorate of education from San Diego State University.
Masuda also told Noozhawk that Munro provided an explanation for his time in Beloit.
“While we are not at liberty to discuss the specifics of what happened in Beloit, we can state that the news articles and subsequent actions were discussed at length with Dr. Munro, who provided ample explanation and evidence that allowed us to move forward with him as a candidate,” Masuda said.
“Beyond this, our Human Resources Department also reached out and received a glowing recommendation from a member of the Beloit board of education, indicating that they would employ Dr. Munro again.”
The letter, from former school board member Nora Gard, said Beloit has suffered from inconsistent leadership, high staff turnover, student discipline issues, and divisive community members.
From 2017 until Munro was hired, the Wisconsin district had three different interim superintendents. Additionally, from 2017 to the present, the seven-person board has had six members resign.
“Three board members resigned simultaneously in 2018 without stating why. In fact, Dr. Munro had five different boards to work with during his time as superintendent for the School District of Beloit,” the letter states.
Santa Barbara Unified School District Board Member Virginia Alvarez spoke with Noozhawk on Monday and described the interview process for hiring an assistant superintendent.
“He did have a personnel issue,” Alvarez said of Munro. “It is not to be denied.”
She said 33 people applied for the position. None of the candidates was internal. After a review of the candidates, Munro ranked second. After the candidates were narrowed down to 12, Munro ranked first, she said.
Alvarez said that Munro’s time in Beloit came up during the interview process.
“Dr. Munro acknowledged it,” she said. “He said he learned from it, and it has made him a better leader, and that now he knows what to do and what not to do.”
She said the interview panel included two sitting assistant superintendents, an executive director, an administrative assistant, a behavioral specialist, two teachers, two elementary school principals, an afterschool program administrator, and a speech and language pathologist. Alvarez said three parents were also invited, but that only one showed up.
Alvarez has not had a conversation with Munro, but said she is impressed with what she knows about his skills in the area of phonics and literacy.
“I want to give this gentleman a chance, and I hope the community will do the same,” Alvarez said.
The Beloit Daily News obtained Munro’s resignation agreement through a request under the Wisconsin Public Records Law.
According to details published by the newspaper at the time, Munro received $75,000 upon his departure, which included sick leave and vacation payout.
The agreement ends any claims against the district, and includes a non-disparagement clause.
The document cites “family reasons,” for the resignation, according to the Beloit Daily News.
— Noozhawk staff writer Joshua Molina can be reached at jmolina@noozhawk.com. Follow Noozhawk on Twitter: @noozhawk, @NoozhawkNews and @NoozhawkBiz. Connect with Noozhawk on Facebook.