Palo Alto School Superintendent Resigns Amid Controversies
PALO ALTO (KPIX 5) – An embattled Bay Area school superintendent is stepping down after months of scandals ranging from budget flubs to the handling of a sexual assault case.
Palo Alto's Dr. Glenn "Max" McGee's last day is Friday.
When we last spoke with Superintendent Max McGee three weeks ago, he intended to finish the year at the helm of the Palo Alto school system.
He will now be gone by the end of the week.
Board President Terry Godfrey said, "I don't think he leaves under a cloud. He acknowledges some of the errors we've had recently."
McGee turned in his letter of resignation Tuesday night, amid growing criticism of the district's handling of a reported sexual assault of a student at Palo Alto High.
The superintendent also came under fire for missing a critical deadline in union negotiations, which forced the district to pay nearly $4.5 million in salary increases despite budget shortfalls.
Parent Chris Dewees said, "You get measured on what you do. You don't get measure on who you are."
Dewees says the superintendent's resignation was long overdue.
"He could be a terrific person, but the jobs requires him to be an administrator," Dewees said.
Superintendent McGee will receive six months' pay, roughly $150,000, in severance. He has also agreed to transfer ownership of a home he bought with a loan from the district, back to the school system.
The calls for McGee's ouster had grown louder in recent weeks.
Although the board president tried to put on a good public face for a relationship that had clearly frayed.
We asked Godfrey if the board had collectively lost confidence in McGee's ability to lead the district?
Godfrey answered, "You know those are closed-session conversations that I'm probably not at liberty to share with you. Clearly, you have some people on record about their opinion about a leadership change."
