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Teachers say their district superintendent subverted a search committee’s hiring process for a high school’s new principal by choosing a candidate not considered by the committee, they told the Sequoia Union High School District governing board during an April 24 meeting.
Teachers described Superintendent Crystal Leach’s selection of current East Palo Alto Academy Vice Principal Veronica Miranda-Pinkney to succeed longtime EPAA Principal Amika Guillaume for the 2024-25 school year on an interim-basis as “unilateral.”
“The superintendent chose to undermine an entire process, ultimately naming as an interim principal someone who was never in the applicant pool to begin with,” said EPAA social studies teacher Marilyn Travis, who was on the hiring committee. The 16-member committee, made up of certified and classified staff, a union representative, a parent, a student and other community members conducted two rounds of interviews, according to committee members who spoke during the meeting. “And she (Leach) did this without consulting or involving the principal selection committee.”
Travis said the superintendent failed to provide an evidence-based rationale to either to the committee or the EPAA community other than that she didn’t think the committee’s selection was “a good choice.” Travis noted that the call to reconvene the committee is independent of Miranda-Pinkney’s qualifications.
‘The superintendent chose to undermine an entire process, ultimately naming as an interim principal someone who was never in the applicant pool to begin with.’
EPAA social studies teacher Marilyn Travis
A day before the board meeting, Leach announced that Miranda-Pinkney would fill the role. Guillaume, who has led the school since 2015, is departing from her role at the end of June, according to a March 6 staff report. Guillaume told the school community in an email that in August she plans to begin a position at Peninsula Bridge, working with students from fourth grade through their college and career transitions.
Despite the concerns, the school board did not pull her hiring from the consent agenda. Board members voted unanimously, part of a consent agenda, to hire Miranda-Pinkney as interim principal.
EPAA teacher Soo Shin said the superintendent’s hiring decision was “dismissive at best, and disrespectful of our time and energy at worst” in the community’s good faith efforts to find a strong leader who’s “acutely aware” of the school’s needs. The district established the school, at 1050 Myrtle St. in East Palo Alto, through a partnership with Stanford University, to help first-generation, low-income students gain access high-quality education in 2001, according to the East Palo Alto Academy Foundation’s website.
EPAA teacher Orman Ramirez Parra said the hiring of the interim principal showed a “lack of faith and support to BIPOC (Black, Indigenous and people of color) administrators.”
EPAA was the city’s first public high school in 25 years, according to the foundation website. It moved to its current campus in 2014.
The district hired Miranda-Pinkney as vice principal of school in 2022. In an April 25 Q&A with Miranda-Pinkney, the East Palo Alto Academy Foundation notes that she came to EPAA after 26 years as a bilingual educator and instructional coach in Southern California and the Bay Area.
“She is a fierce advocate for public education and has served on several committees at the state and national levels that support English learners and the families we serve,” the foundation post states. “During her time at EPAA, Veronica has inspired us through her tireless dedication to our students and families, her strong relationships with faculty and other administrators, and her thoughtful partnership with the foundation family.”
Miranda-Pinkney told the foundation that “stepping into the role of principal fills me with boundless excitement and gratitude. Transitioning from vice principal, I see an opportunity not just to lead but to build upon the foundation laid by those who came before me. I am deeply appreciative of the dedication and hard work that have brought us to this point, and I carry forward a profound respect for the legacy they have created.”
Guillaume told the school community in the email that: “The memories we’ve created, the incredible milestones we’ve achieved, and the bonds we’ve formed are treasures I will carry with me into this new chapter of my life. I am immensely proud of the accomplishments of our students, the dedication of our team, and the sense of community and ‘familia’ that defines East Palo Alto Academy.”
The district did not respond to a request for a comment. District spokesperson Arthur Wilkie said a copy Miranda-Pinkney’s contract for the 2024-25 school year will be available on her first day in the new position, July 1.
Watch a video of the public comments on the hiring process below: