In the wake of recent revelations that TUSD Governing Board president Adelita Grijalva secretly ushered through the hiring of her mother-in-law for the top spot at Myers/Ganoung school, questions have arisen about the proposed candidate Karyl Green for the top spot at Tucson High School.
While some may have concerns, it seems that Green might just be the perfect fit for the dysfunctional Tucson Unified School District. Prior to leaving her last job as superintendent of the East Allen County Schools (EACS) in Indiana, a “district climate survey” was conducted which found that “EACS employees felt “undervalued” by the administration and were frustrated at “the perceived chaos of initiatives.”
The report found there was little confidence in the “transparency or integrity of the central office, particularly with Green,” according to an article in The News-Sentinel.
Chaos, lack of transparency, and lack of integrity just happen to be the most common words used to describe TUSD under the leadership of Superintendent Dr. H.T Sanchez and Adelita Grijalva.
According to The News-Sentinel, Green and the EACS Governing Board “opted for a swift breakup.”
The News-Sentinel article dated February 26, 2013, reported that Green and the Board “mutually agreed to part ways,” with an effective date of March 1, 2013. According to the article, “rather than continuing through the remainder of her contract, which expires in June 2014,” the two sides agreed on a effective date “not March 1, 2014,” but March 1, 2013.
As superintendent, Green ran EACS’s 16 schools, and approximately 10,000 students and 650 employees since July 2009. The News-Sentinel reported, “Green had indicated that she intended to finish her contract, but the release stated that Green’s near-immediate departure “is in the best interest of the students, teachers and schools.”
Green, the Board and the East Allen community had conflicts “mostly due to the redesign of the district that was prompted by the potential takeover of Harding High School by the state after years of academic woes.”
According to The News-Sentinel, “Green originally signed a three-year contract at $140,000 per year to run the district.”
Immediately after leaving EACS, Green was hired as principal at a Florida high school.
According to Brevard Public Schools, Green was hired to “lead Merritt Island High School, a school of about 1,500 students in Brevard County, Fla.,” The New Sentinel reported.
“Green’s hiring in Florida should also serve to mitigate some not-so-hidden resentment within the district’s boundaries about the terms of her 12-page resignation and severance agreement,” The News-Sentinel reported on April 17, 2013. “In that agreement, Green was to be paid $196,125.87 in severance pay, as well as $7,106 in unused vacation time, over 35 installments that were to begin March 13 and end June 30, 2014.”
Green is still listed on the Merritt Island High School website as the principal.
According to the website, Green graduated from Arizona State University with a degree in English Education and received her Master’s degree & doctoral degree from Indiana University. She has four children ranging in ages from 26 to 16. After vacationing in Brevard County since 2001, she felt it was time to make the move and head “south.” Her kids asked her, “What took you so long!!”
Despite the fact that TUSD’s Unitary Status Plan (USP) calls for the District to “recruit qualified African American and Latino candidates for open administrator positions,” Sanchez is moving THS principal Clarice Clash, who is a qualified African American, to a position in the District’s Central office after he failed to provide her support when racial and ethnic tensions flared up after Clash tried to gain parents’ trust back after it was discovered that “student liaisons” looked the other way as one of their colleagues engaged in the sexual abuse of at least one student.
A review of the complaints against Clash was conducted and she was exonerated, however Sanchez refused to make public the findings
That “liaison” and former wrestling coach is currently in court and a verdict is expected in his sexual abuse case this week.
The TUSD Governing Board is expected to vote on Green’s appointment this Tuesday.
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