The search for a new Atascadero Unified School District superintendent continues after the Board of Trustee's did not approve E.J. Rossi for the position Tuesday night.
"The board has taken into consideration a significant amount of public input from the community and is determined to continue the search for the next superintendent," said Denise McGrew-Kane, the AUSD Board of Trustee's clerk.
A formal job offer had already been drawn up and agreed to by E.J. Rossi, who is currently serving as the district’s assistant superintendent of educational services.
He was the board's top pick for the position, but over the past few weeks, has the selection has been met with opposition from parents and staff within the district.
Andrew Weatherly, the union president of Atascadero Unified Teachers, previously surveyed staff within the district.
"We had four people out of that 101 who answered the survey, said yes, we want Mr. Rossi as the next superintendent, and then we were able to gather that there was 81 individuals who said no," Weatherly said.
Following the announcement at Tuesday night's meeting, more than half of the people making public comments on this agenda item chose not to speak, but for those who did speak, they all shared this sentiment.
"The situation went too far. It should have never taken this many people to showing up for you to hear," said Anthony Villanueva, a district parent.
"We want to thank the board for making the decision that you made tonight to continue the search, but what we ask for is additional transparency because there was a lack of transparency and like the previous speaker said, this went too far," said one community member.
"You're putting teachers in a position of having to choose whether to spend our time helping kids or holding you accountable," said Jehan Mirzaei, a 6th-grade teacher at Atascadero Middle School.
Rossi was notably absent from Tuesday's board meeting. KSBY tried reaching out to him for comment but was unsuccessful.
Rossi has been with Atascadero Unified since 2007 when he served as assistant principal at Atascadero High.
In 2008, Rossi was promoted to principal. He stepped down from that position in 2015 to become the district's assistant superintendent of educational services, a position he’s held ever since.
Prior to coming to Atascadero, Rossi served as superintendent of San Ardo Union School District. Just after his departure in Monterey County and during his arrival to Atascadero, he found himself named in a 2009 San Luis Obispo County Grand Jury report.
The Grand Jury looked into a complaint on Rossi’s hiring made to Atascadero Unified in 2009 by an unnamed citizen, accusing him of misuse of funds.
While with San Ardo Union, the Grand Jury’s report states Rossi was responsible for a loss of $56,000. He reportedly paid $32,000 as part of a settlement agreement related to the misuse of funds, according to the report.
Criminal charges were never filed against Rossi, but concerns over handling funds left local parents concerned. The Grand Jury recommended the district sign a contract with an independent agency to conduct a pre-employment background check when a position has access to public funds.
If confirmed, Rossi would have taken over as superintendent on July, 1. The board said the next steps will be shared in the coming weeks.
