In a stunning turn of events, the Santa Barbara Unified School District Board of Education voted unanimously Tuesday night to immediately remove Dan Williams as director of the MAD Academy at Santa Barbara High School.
Board member Laura Capps made the motion to remove Williams, and it was seconded by board member Kate Ford.
The closed-session decision came after a fiery public-comment period that included calls for Williams to be removed and Superintendent Cary Matsuoka to either resign or be terminated.
“The board gave direction in closed session to staff and legal counsel to initiate a revision to the Williams settlement agreement to include the immediate removal from campus,” board chairwoman Wendy Sims-Moten announced after an hour-long closed-session discussion.
The district describes the four-year Multimedia Arts and Design Academy as a “school within a school.” Students take pre-Advanced Placement, honors and AP-level academic courses, as well as classes in graphic design, film, photography, social media and web design.
“I’m pleased,” said MAD Academy parent Mark Sherman. “Lots of people were calling for it. They had to do something.”
Two weeks ago Sherman and his wife, Tami Sherman, took their allegations of misconduct public at a school board meeting. They said that former operations director Pablo Sweeney sent inappropriate texts to their son, now a UC Berkeley student, when he was in the academy. The texts were initially reported in January 2018.
Sherman complained to the board that Williams took no action on the matter, downplayed the accusations, and said that their son received the inappropriate texts because the Montecito debris flow caused “crossed wires,” which somehow forced text messages to be sent to the wrong person.
After a year of no action, the former student reported the information to Santa Barbara High Assistant Principal Tiffany Carson in January 2019.
Sweeney was removed from his position, and Williams was put on temporary leave in April.
Then, Williams returned to his position in early May, with the understanding that he would retire at the end of the school year.
Meanwhile, the school district on Sunday handed over a private investigator’s report into the MAD Academy allegations to the Santa Barbara Police Department.
Police spokesman Anthony Wagner said the department is reviewing the contents of the “personnel matter,” but that no one has filed a criminal complaint.
If people would like to make a criminal complaint, Wagner said, they should contact the department at 805.882.8900.
Many parents said allowing Williams to return was unacceptable, and the board heard from a handful of outraged people Tuesday night.
Parent James Fenkner said problems have existed at the district for a long time. He noted the district’s handling of Ed Behrens dismissal as principal at San Marcos High, a proposed dramatic overhaul of the GATE program, the recent controversy of implicit-bias and cultural-proficiency training, and now the MAD Academy furor.
“A fish rots from the head,” Fenkner said. “It is your sole responsibility as a board to deal with the rot at the top, and please deal with it now. Otherwise, the stink will only get worse, and it will be forever on your hands.”
Justin Tuttle, who has four children, said Matsuoka is to blame for the MAD Academy “fiasco.”
“It is my opinion that Matsuoka’s performance has been abysmal and ultimately damaging to our children and the educational mission of the district,” Tuttle said. “The mess with MAD would not have spun out if Matsuoka did the right thing and reported immediately.”
Tuttle asked the board why it took nearly six months for a report to get to the Police Department.
“Why did it take since January 2019 to go to law enforcement,” Tuttle said. “The answer, in my opinion, is gross mismanagement from the top down.”
Tuttle said the district has managed the MAD Academy allegations more like “a clown show” than as paid professionals.
Tuttle said the board needs to clean house.
“It starts by firing Matsuoka and getting rid of his team, including (Assistant Superintendent of Human Resources) Dr. (John) Becchio,” Tuttle said.
Sheridan Rosenberg, one of the plaintiffs in the implicit-bias training lawsuit against the district, also said Matsuoka needs to resign.
“I think we all agree that what happened and how it has been handled is appalling,” Rosenberg said. “I think we all agree it is time for you to step down. It’s just been too much.”
She said the the district should have picked up the phone and called police rather than hiring a private investigating firm.
At the end of the meeting, Matsuoka took the unusual step of asking district attorney Craig Price to respond to the comments.
Price said it is illegal for the district staff to state publicly any specifics about Williams’ situation because it is a personnel matter.
He spoke for beyond three minutes, the time that members of the public have to adhere to, and members of the audience started to shout him down.
Price abruptly responded to catcalls from the audience. Several people started to yell “time” to encourage him to stop talking.
“I’m sorry,” Price said. “I’m finishing. Stop interrupting me.”
After he finished speaking, a member of the audience booed the attorney.
Attorney Erik Early also blasted the district during public comment. He represents a group called Fair Education Santa Barbara which has legally challenged the implicit-bias and cultural-proficiency training hosted by the district.
“Mr. Matsuoka, you are a mandatory reporter,” Early said. “When you hear credible statements and allegations of abuse of students, you are required to report such allegations to the authorities immediately. Instead, it was reported to your friendly lawyers.”
He said the public was left in the dark, and he also called for Matsuoka’s resignation.
“This is yet another example of how this district has closed its ears to the concerns of the public for far too long,” Early said.
“We have seen a culture of arrogance and smugness that emanates from the leader of this school and that is you Mr. Matsuoka. The MAD Academy matter and how it has been handled is a perfect example of that arrogance.”
— 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.
