Tam Union board president faces calls to resign after trustee's restraining order and resignation
Parents at a Tamalpais Union High School District board meeting this week called on President Cynthia Roenisch to resign, faulting her for failing to publicly censure former trustee Kevin Saavedra, who resigned after a judge issued a three-year restraining order over his profane emails to a parent. Roenisch said she would not resign.
LARKSPUR: Parents in the Tamalpais Union High School District called on board President Cynthia Roenisch to resign at a school board meeting earlier this week, faulting her for failing to publicly censure or discipline former trustee Kevin Saavedra for his conduct toward a parent, EdSource reported on Friday, October 16.
Saavedra resigned last week after a Marin County judge issued a three-year restraining order against him, involving the parent, Ina Gotlieb, and sharply rebuked him, EdSource reported. The board had prepared a censure motion, but his resignation made it moot, according to EdSource, and the Redwood Bark reported on October 13 that he was not censured after resigning.
"Nothing was done, nothing," Jennifer Nassiri told the board during the meeting's public comment period, according to EdSource. "The message is clear: Protecting the abuser is more important than the people being harmed." Grant Palmer asked, "Why did it take this long? What did the board know? And why were these concerns not publicly addressed?" Palmer also said, "Cynthia Roenisch, board president, I believe you bear responsibility for these concerns, and I'm calling for your resignation," EdSource reported, citing the Marin Independent Journal.
Roenisch said she would not resign, EdSource reported. She said she "did not participate" in Saavedra's conduct, and she said Saavedra was admonished in closed session about using his district-issued email address to send a profane message to Gotlieb, though it is unclear when that occurred, according to EdSource.
A restraining order, then a resignation letter
The restraining order centered on an email Saavedra sent from his official district email account last year telling a mother, in profane terms, to go away, and calling her a "stupid old crone," according to EdSource and the Redwood Bark. Marin Superior Court Judge Mark A. Talamantes granted the three-year order and took an incredulous tone as he questioned Saavedra over the email, EdSource reported. "You used district email to send that to a parent whose child goes to the Tam schools?" the judge said. "You're humiliating a parent whose child goes to your school? I don't want a parent to be publicly shamed." The judge called Saavedra's action an "abuse of power," and the Bark reported that he told Saavedra, "you have been entrusted with a position of authority, and you have used that position to personally humiliate a parent whose child is in one of the schools under your authority."
Saavedra resigned on Friday, October 9, a day after the judge issued the restraining order, according to the Redwood Bark. In his resignation letter, quoted by EdSource, he wrote, "The most recent cycle has been tumultuous. In service of this volunteer position I would not have expected I would be told to withstand personal and sometimes racist attacks," and added, "The abuse has been draining and I have had enough." Trustee Emily Uhlhorn told the Bark, "It was in the best interest of the District for Mr. Saavedra to resign and I am glad that he did." She added, "Kevin should have been censured when he sent the first email to her instead of his behavior going unchecked," and said, "I am deeply sorry that Ms. Gotlieb went through this."
Gotlieb criticized the district's handling of the case, telling the Bark that she sent four emails to Superintendent Courtney Goode and the board about Saavedra's communications and that the district took no action until the restraining order was granted. "I shouldn't have had to go to the courts to get the relief that I needed from Mr. Saavedra's harassment," she told the Bark.
Both names stay on the November ballot
The dispute now runs into the November election, where three seats on the board are open. Roenisch is a candidate for one of the seats, EdSource reported. Saavedra's name is also on the ballot, but he has stopped campaigning and has said he will not serve if elected, according to EdSource. He told the Redwood Bark that voters should "not bet" on him taking the position if elected and that he was "done with being a trustee." Roenisch's answer to the parents is that she will stay, and that the trustee who sent the messages was admonished behind closed doors.
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