One hour of public comment: “As a community, we should know why.”

On Tuesday night, over 50 people filled the chairs in the Sonoma Valley Unified School District board room, and more lined the wall or milled about outside. Their set faces and lack of chatter contributed to a sense of tension in the air.
School board president Cam Hawing opened the board meeting with a kind tribute to Micaela Philpot, the outgoing principal at Sonoma Valley High School, recognizing her many years of service in public education in Sonoma. Then, for the next hour, parents, teachers, staff, current students and former students rose to the lecturn, one after the other, to praise Philpot and to ask, in varying degrees of eloquence, over and over, the question on everyone’s mind: Why?
“We none of us have heard any reason why she’s been asked to resign,” said one parent, “and I think it’s a huge mistake.” Another said, “I cannot for the life of me imagine what she has done that is so egregious that you would ask her to resign. I respectfully request that you revisit this.” Another said, “If this is the decision, then you have to come forth with reasons.” Another said, “I think we need to know why somebody so committed to their community, their school, the educational process for over 30 years is asked to step aside without any explanation to us. As a community, we should know why.”
The failure to supply any kind of understanding has left many in a state of anger, dismay, uncertainty and concern. One parent said, “I really want to know what aspects didn’t work for Micaela. What aspects did she lack? What are you going to look for in a new principal that’s going to beat what we had?”
One person recognized in the situation a failure of her own. “I wrote a letter to the board, saying, ‘Shame on you.’ Now I say, shame on me. I’ve never been to a board meeting before. This is the catalyst that brought me here. I should have been involved in the process. I know California has a law that you can’t speak on personnel issues. And I think that’s wrong. It gives absolute power to have you make decisions without informing us. It’s wrong. Shame on me. In the future, I will elect people that will make better laws, and give power to the people, and take away power to the few.”
The group was varied. Ida Ramirez said she spoke for the Hispanic community, saying, “Nobody wants the principal to go. We are completely disappointed in this decision.” Rita Hensic, a school bus driver, addressed the board, saying she would speak to them the way she talks to her kids. “Sometimes, they do something silly, and you say, like, ‘Gee, Hon, are you sure you want to do that?’ But then, there’s something so big, it’s, like, ‘What the heck were you thinking!!!!’ This,” she said, “is one of those times. I mean, what the heck were you thinking?” Wild applause swelled and died down as she finished in a sober vein. “What scares me is that all of us are thinking the same thing, which is, ‘Holy cow, if you’re doing this to Micaela, what the heck will you do to the rest of us?’”
Throughout the public comments, the board sat quietly, soberly, their faces revealing nothing that would help answer the repeated question, Why? Several members of the public said, in resigned but practical tones, that if the resignation must go through, please to have an interim principal to act throughout the remainder of the year and let the new superintendent choose a new principal. “It’s not fair to have the new principal have to work with someone who only has four months left,” said one parent. No answers were given, promised or even hinted at. When the last person spoke, the group filed out of the room, and the board turned to the regular agenda, which included a discussion of budget cuts.
Of the cutting, superintendent Barbara Young said, “We are going to weather the mid-year reductions. Love our Libraries is no longer in business. The financials have been readjusted. We’ve reduced library hours. We are reducing transportation by $50,000. That is still being worked. We are shifting $105,000 in custodial money and increasing athletic fees by 100 percent. That will give us $56,000. We’ll keep the sports programs functional. We needed to reach the goal of cutting just over $300,000, and we’ve done that.”
Young said next year’s superintendent and the board will need to form a reconfiguration task force. “Do we keep all of our schools open? Do we change our calendar? That shouldn’t be started until next year with the new superintendent. We’ve been able to manage the changes in the categorical programs. We’ve restored our $50,000 reserve.” The motion to accept the measures was approved.