Community speakers urge board to keep Dr. De Susa as interim superintendent, call for transparency

Dozens of parents, former students and district staff used the meeting’s public-comment period to urge the Rialto Unified School District Board of Education to retain Dr. De Susa as interim superintendent and to press the board for clearer communication about investigations involving district leadership.

Speakers said they wanted the board to prioritize continuity and school-level stability while investigators complete inquiries. “Él colaboró con mí cuando yo era una directora ... siempre fue dedicado a ... los estudiantes,” said Sheila Husley, identifying herself as a former district employee, describing long experience working with Dr. De Susa. Teacher Michael Tucson said Dr. De Susa’s leadership has “ha sido superintendente. Y su guía ha sido de un gran impacto para el suceso de nuestro programa,” and Marina Madrid, who identified herself as a multilingual program specialist in the district, described grants and program outcomes she attributes to his leadership: “Su creación del programa de inscripción doble ... permite a los estudiantes obtener simultáneamente su diploma de preparatoria y un título de asociado.”

Other commenters focused on process and transparency. Ana González asked the board to delay any evaluation or reinstatement decisions until investigations connected to the superintendent’s office are complete and urged the board to consider recusing Trustee Williams from related actions because of perceived conflicts of interest. “Estoy pidiendo que la mesa directiva, por favor, ponga esto en la mesa y lo guarde hasta que las investigaciones ... sean resultado,” González said.

Why it matters: The public comments fed directly into a personnel item the board said it would discuss in closed session. The speaker requests signal community concern about leadership stability and demand clearer, regular updates from the district during sensitive personnel reviews.

During the meeting the board moved personnel matters — including an item described on the public agenda as “evaluation of the acting superintendent” — into closed session. At the public reconvening the board reported no reportable action from the closed session with regard to those matters.

Discussion points and context - The public comment period contained multiple long-form endorsements from current and former teachers, students and community leaders emphasizing Dr. De Susa’s longtime ties to Rialto schools and programmatic achievements (dual-enrollment initiatives, grant funding). - Speakers requested that the board defer personnel decisions tied to the superintendent’s evaluation until outside investigations are concluded; one caller requested recusal of a named trustee from those proceedings. - The board followed established procedure by discussing personnel matters in closed session; at public reconvening the board stated there was “no report” from the closed session.

What the board did - The board moved personnel items into closed session. At public reconvening it announced “no reportable action.” No vote to appoint or remove the interim superintendent was recorded in open session.

Speakers - Sheila Husley — Former district employee (resident/commenter) - Michael Tucson — Teacher, Rialto High School - Ofelia Fitzpatrick — Longtime Rialto resident and educator - Marina Madrid — Multilingual program specialist, Rialto Unified (identified in public comment) - Ana González — Community leader (public commenter) - Additional public commenters included multiple alumni, parents and local community leaders who signed in during the public-comment period; full list of public speakers appears in the meeting minutes.

Clarifying details - The agenda listed a closed-session item described as an evaluation of the acting superintendent; speakers characterized that item as potentially decisive and asked for delay until investigations conclude. - Several commenters said Dr. De Susa has led programs that secured grant funding; one speaker referenced more than “14,000,000 de dólares” in grants connected to mathematics and science programming as part of remarks supporting his leadership (statement by Marina Madrid during public comment).

Provenance - topicintro: {"block_id":"s=222.29","local_start":0,"local_end":200,"evidence_excerpt":"Buenas noches. Yo soy una empleada anterior ... he venido a hablar acerca del doctor de Susa desde que ha sido un maestro hasta que ha sido un administrador.","reason_code":"topicintro"} - topicfinish: {"block_id":"s=1780.55","local_start":0,"local_end":220,"evidence_excerpt":"... Estoy pidiendo que la mesa directiva, por favor, ponga esto en la mesa y lo guarde hasta que las investigaciones acerca del del superintendente ... sea resultado ... Podemos tener a los miembros de la mesa directiva votar para que nos vayamos a la sesión cerrada.","reason_code":"topicfinish"}

Ending Speakers asked the board for both urgency — a timely resolution — and transparency: repeated requests to either delay formal evaluation until investigations conclude or to publicly explain the process. The board handled the matter in closed session and, when it returned to open session, reported no reportable action on those personnel items.