Months after community members in Escondido Union School District began raising concerns about the circumstances surrounding a board trustee’s departure, a new replacement has been named — but with his appointment, tensions in the district have boiled over.
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Ryan Gardiner, a political consultant, is now the newest member of the Escondido school board.
His appointment earlier this month on a 3-1 vote by the board drew boos and shouts from the public.
The San Diego Union-Tribune reached out multiple times to schedule an interview with Gardiner, who instead emailed a statement, saying that Escondido has been his home all his life.
“I am deeply honored to receive this appointment and look forward to bringing my experience in public policy and business to the board as we work to maintain safe schools and help every student thrive,” he wrote. “As I transition into this role, I am focused on the school district’s central mission: providing high-quality educational opportunities for all Escondido families.”
Gardiner is a partner in a political consulting firm called Strategy Insights. Its website says he “has used his skills to recruit, train, and advise numerous school board members and public education leaders.”
In his application for the school board role, he said the three biggest issues facing the district were declining enrollment, campus safety and balancing technology with instruction.
Gardiner’s seat opened up when Mark Olson resigned July 24, after taking a job in Utah.
Some community members have questioned when exactly Olson actually moved out of the area. They argue that he should have resigned earlier, so a new trustee could be elected on the November ballot.
A video from May, first reported by NBC San Diego, shows Olson being introduced at a public meeting in the city of Ogden, Utah, his new employer.
Under state law, when a seat is vacated between 130 days and six months before an election where it otherwise wouldn’t be on the ballot, the vacancy is supposed to be filled in a special election that coincides with the general election.
In other words, in order for voters to be able to elect a new trustee in November, Olson would have had to resign by late June.
Olson’s move to Utah was well underway by that point. Olson and his wife sold their home June 25, property records show.
Brandi Krepps, the head of the district’s teachers union, criticized Olson’s delay in submitting his resignation.
“Immediately he should have vacated his position as a school board member. He didn’t do that,” she said.
Once the deadline to get his seat on the November ballot had passed, that left two options for the board: Call a special election, or appoint someone to serve out the rest of his term, which ends in 2028.
In July, the board declined to opt for a special election and instead decided on an appointment process.
“Absolutely nobody in the community believes the time frame surrounding Mark Olson’s resignation as reported by the district,” said former board member Joe Muga at the July board meeting.
The appointment process wrapped up earlier this month no more calmly than it began.
The board heard from eight qualified applicants, including a former member of the board and a longtime senior administrator in the district.
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Leila Sackfield — a deputy superintendent of human services before retiring several years ago, according to her LinkedIn — got a standing ovation after she spoke. The district’s foundation awards a teacher grant named for her.
Other applicants, like former trustee Muga, used their time to urge the board to appoint her.
“You have a duty to choose the most qualified applicant here tonight to serve as Trustee Area 3 school board member. I know — everybody in this room knows — who that applicant is: Her name is Leila Sackfield,” Muga said.
Gardiner appeared to acknowledge that not everyone was thrilled with his presence.
“If I don’t get any applause tonight, at least maybe I get an applause for being the last interview,” he said. “But I just wanted to say that I think it’s really good to see so many people engaged in this process here today, both current students, current parents, hard-working staff and faculty.”
In his time to speak, Gardiner said that the most important part of meeting the diverse needs of the student body is to ensure “educational choice.”
“When I say educational choice, I specifically mean creating flexibility among the programs and services offered by the district,” he said.
Board members who voted for him indicated they want to bring in new ideas. Frank Huston said he wanted a perspective on the district’s future plans.
“It’s not about just teaching, or making sure that the children are taught,” he said.
Joan Gardner said she was impressed with what Gardiner said about district finances.
“Our job is not to direct curriculum or the way instruction is done,” she said. “Our position is to make policy, how we want our children to be treated and what we offer our children.”
Doug Paulson, who cast the board’s only no vote on Gardiner, cited what he said were distinct criteria for the selection: length of time as a resident in the region of the district and Escondido, significant life experience, direct involvement in the district and an ability to put students first while working collaboratively with the district.
He elaborated the next day in an interview and also mentioned a knowledge of education.
“Many of the candidates had those qualifications, and I would have preferred to have at least considered one of the candidates who had a direct relationship with the Escondido Union School District — either as a student, as a parent, as an employee or as a community volunteer,” he said.
In his remarks to the board at the meeting, Gardiner pointed out that he had attended elementary school in Escondido Union School District.
The handling of the vacant Region 3 seat isn’t the first event that has prompted vocal conflict at Escondido Union school board meetings in recent years. Last year, community members spoke out against the process that led to the appointment of a new superintendent.
After the meeting, Harper ascribed the tensions that boiled over to a divide between the board and the district’s teachers union on how to improve student achievement.
“I think there’s a difference of opinion on how we get there, and I think our board has a very clear vision on how we want to get there, by our choice of superintendent, by our cabinet’s choice — because we want to do the best we can for the students of Escondido,” she said.
Krepps disagreed.
“This is not a union versus district issue,” she said. “This is a fact that we’re upset because they had a lack of transparency in this entire process.”
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