SAN GABRIEL - The SGUSD board voted 5-0 in January to reinstate Gabrielino Principal Sharon Heinrich. What this means is that interim Supt. Dan Brann will have until March 15 to evaluate her performance and body of work, just as he must do for all employees before layoffs are made.
Had the board not voted to reinstate, Heinrich would have simply been dismissed by June of this year. Several hundred people attended the most recent meeting, many in support of the principal who had in December been publicly reprimanded for a lack of confidence in her leadership and inability to manage and supervise her staff.
It has been a period of transition for SGUSD. Susan Parks is out, Brann is in. Colleen Doan, one of Heinrich's most outspoken critics, is also out. Replacing her is Andrew Ammon. Gabrielino staff members, urging the new board to reinstate the ousted principal, drafted a detailed letter of Heinrich's best contributions.
The board has been criticized for abusing its power, but all pertinent discussions regarding these personal personnel matters have been conducted in the presence of lawyers. The board has its hands tied in certain ways, as there is only so much they can declare and say, while the public generally is free to voice their opinions without discretion.
Brann is proud of the board and looks forward to the challenge of determining whether or not to extend a new contract to Heinrich and all the other SGUSD employees and performances he must evaluate by March 15.