How to resolve AdBlock issue? Following a special Monday night closed session, the district’s board of trustees released Superintendent Michael Cox from his contract.
“We appreciate the service and effort that Superintendent Cox provided to MUSD during his tenure. We thank our MUSD community for their patience and support,” said Middletown Unified Board President Misha Grothe in a brief written statement released to Lake County News on Tuesday evening.
Lake County News was unable to reach Cox for comment on Tuesday.
In April 2020, Middletown Unified announced the hiring of Cox, then the principal of the Alternative Education Center located in Silver Valley Unified School District in Southern California.
He began the job with Middletown Unified on July 1, 2020.
At the time of his hire, the board said it was “extraordinarily pleased” with Cox’s selection, saying he “proved himself the best fit to carry forward the vision of the district” and lauding him for a record of driving academic excellence.
So far, the district has not publicly indicated what led to the decision to terminate Cox’s contract.
However, a review of agendas going back to July of 2020 show that the board had held 10 closed session evaluations of Cox, beginning in August of last year.
Since this past June alone, there had been three special meetings called to discuss the superintendent’s performance and three closed session evaluations held during regular meetings.
At the same time, the district was navigating the work of bringing students back to campuses after the COVID-19 pandemic forced a closure to in-person classes last year.
The school board held a brief meeting on Sept. 22 to discuss the acting superintendent. They emerged from closed session, with Grothe announcing that Dr. David Miller would be appointed acting superintendent while the existing superintendent wasn’t available.
Grothe said at the Sept. 22 meeting that the board will negotiate a contract with Miller and it will come before them during their regular meeting on Oct. 13, pursuant to the Brown Act.
At that time, the board voted unanimously to approve Miller’s appointment until Cox was able to return to work.
Then, on Monday, the board followed up with another special session in which the closed session discussion was agendized as an evaluation of the superintendent’s performance. It was at that meeting that the board terminated Cox’s employment.
Miller’s appointment as the district’s acting superintendent is not his first time working with Middletown Unified.
Miller, a retired Mendocino Unified School District superintendent, was appointed Middletown Unified’s interim superintendent in October 2019 following the board’s termination of then-Superintendent Catherine Stone, who had served four years in the job.
In its Tuesday statement, the school board said it will keep the community updated on a regular basis about its next steps in recruiting a new superintendent.
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