Board approves two executive contracts amid objections over redacted public notices

The Board voted to approve two executive employment agreements at its Sept. meeting, but the votes were accompanied by public objections from some commissioners who said the district redacted candidate names from pre-vote materials and did not provide the customary 72-hour public notice of contract details.

Superintendent Hsu introduced the agreements. The first was an employment agreement for Jennifer Jimenez Payne as head of special education, effective Oct. 1, 2025 through June 30, 2026, with salary placement at managerial salary grade 7, step 7. Commissioner Ray and Commissioner Alexander said they would vote no because the names had been redacted in advance materials and they had not had the usual 72-hour disclosure; both said they support transparency and that the change in practice had not been discussed with the Board. Commissioner Alexander said he respected the candidate but would vote no on principle.

The second contract approved was for the head financial officer, Niru Jaharavan, commencing Oct. 31, 2025, through June 30, 2027, with salary placement at managerial grade 6, step 8; the Board recorded the corrected grade/step in open session. Both contracts passed after roll-call votes; recorded votes show five ayes for each contract with two members either no/recused as noted in the meeting minutes.

Commissioner Ray said he would continue to press for a Board discussion about whether contract names should be disclosed 72 hours before votes. Superintendent Hsu said she would prepare a memo and explain recruitment practice, citing standard practice among many districts and search firms to keep candidate identities confidential until agreements are finalized to facilitate recruitment. The Board did not change its practice at the meeting; two commissioners recorded no votes on the head-of-special-education item on transparency grounds.