Embattled Hayward School Chief Ousted By Late Night Vote
HAYWARD (CBS SF) -- The suspended head of the Hayward Unified School District was fired early Thursday by a unanimous vote of the school board, ending more than a year of tumultuous relations between the superintendent and the board, according to a newspaper report.
Interim Superintendent Matt Wayne will continue on until a replacement can be found for Stan Dobbs, who was ousted by a 3-0 vote with trustees Annette Walker and John Taylor not in attendance at the closed door vote.
School board President Lisa Brunner told the Bay Area News Group that the vote capped "a long summer for all of us."
The uneasy relationship between Dobbs and the board can be traced back to a tension-filled September 2015 closed door meeting which ended in an angry verbal confrontation.
Dobbs eventually was placed on paid administrative leave in June and the board launched an investigation that included actions taken during his three-year tenure as superintendent, according to the news report.
The ouster will likely be greeted by anger and frustration from Dobbs supporters. At least 526 people had signed an online petition demanding Dobbs be retained as superintendent.
"Since I was a student, Hayward has had endless turnover, especially in our superintendent position, and when you have turnover, we're known as the transient school — we're the underdogs and the low performing district," Hayward resident and parent Melissa Sigars, who launched the petition, told trustees according to the paper.
"That's what we've been known for prior to Stan Dobbs coming, and every time you have a turnover, you have a loss in culture, knowledge and how things are run."
Details uncovered during the board's investigation of Dobbs were expected to be released Thursday.
