The Cupertino Courier

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FUHSD must pay fired Rowley and appoint new trustee

By Erin Hussey and
Cody Kraatz

The Fremont Union High School District will pay nearly $600,000 to former superintendent Stephen Rowley and, within the next 60 days, appoint a replacement for trustee Kathryn Ho, who is resigning.

The settlement with Rowley, which was approved by both parties on June 5, stipulates that the district pay him, within 30 days, approximately $170,000--the amount he would have been paid from Aug. 22, 2006, the date he was fired, through May 8, 2007.

In addition, the district must also continue to pay Rowley his monthly salary of $18,766 per month until Feb. 10, 2008, the month his contract was set to expire.

The settlement further states that Rowley, who is now reinstated as a FUHSD employee on administrative leave, will also continue to receive his benefits and a housing loan the district provided on an interest-free basis through Feb. 8, or when he sells the home.

In accordance with Labor Code 201, which requires employers to pay discharged employees all his or her wages, including accrued vacation, immediately at the time of termination, Rowley will be paid an additional $11,000.

The district will also pay an additional $225,000, less expenses that he incurred for attorney's fees, no later than Feb. 10, 2008.

Ho said her resignation has nothing to do with Rowley's lawsuit. She said she wants to spend time with her 95-year-old mother, who is ill and living in Los Angeles. Ho said she couldn't balance those visits with two board meetings per month once school resumes in the fall. This is the first time since 1997 that a board member has resigned.

The board voted unanimously to appoint a new board member within 60 days, rather than hold a special election, which could cost as much as $1 million. The seat must be filled by Aug. 24.

"I'm a little bit concerned about the timeline," said Polly Bove, district superintendent. Board member Homer Tong will be in China during August.

Rowley was fired on a 3-2 vote of the governing board. It followed the controversial departures of two popular Monta Vista High School teachers, Tim Krieger and Melanie Walczak, in June 2006.

Rowley sent an errant e-mail to the entire FUHSD board that was intended only to be read by Bove, then assistant superintendent.

In the e-mail, Rowley wrote he hoped Krieger and Walczak would "write a scorcher fingering" board president Avie Katz and his wife Cathy, who works as a guidance counselor at Monta Vista, as the primary reasons they resigned.

In June, Krieger wrote a letter of resignation to Rowley saying he believed he was being thwarted in his application to be a guidance resource teacher at Monta Vista because of an incident some years earlier when he had accused Katz's daughter of cheating, an allegation later ruled to be unfounded.

In a September interview, Katz told the Sun and Courier that Rowley's e-mail played only a part in his firing.

After an uproar in the community, the board hired the independent law firm of Bennett & Sharpe, Inc. to investigate Krieger's resignation and produce a timeline of what happened.

In a special district meeting held on Nov. 2, trustees released the timeline of the resignation of Krieger up to the firing of Rowley to the public. Key parts of the document, however, were blacked out.

At the meeting, trustees Nancy Newton and Homer Tong said they believed the public had a right to know everything.

"The public has a right to know what goes on, and we want to give you as much as we can," said Tong. "I think eventually everything will come out."

Rowley filed his lawsuit the next day.

A week later, during the Nov. 7 elections, Katz lost his bid for re-election and Ho, who along with Tong had also voted to fire Rowley, won by a margin of 450 votes over challenger Don Mackenzie. Challenger Bill Wilson was elected, and incumbent Barbara Nunes was re-elected and voted board president.

On Dec. 5, the board unanimously appointed Bove as superintendent through June 2008.

Following settlement of the Rowley lawsuit, it was thought the complete Bennett & Sharpe timeline, without the details blacked out, would be available to the public. District officials have yet to indicate a plan to release the timeline.

The district will hold an informational meeting for interested trustee candidates on July 23, and board members Bill Wilson and Barbara Nunes will attend to answer questions. Applications are due on July 25 at 5 p.m. to Bove's office. The new trustee will be sworn into office on Sept. 4.

Application packets will be available online at www.fuhsd.org on July 5 or may be picked up in person at the Educational Services Center at 589 W. Fremont Ave. in Sunnyvale.

For more information, call 408.522.2200.