The Juneau School Board voted Friday to release current district Superintendent Mark Miller from his employment contract, about a year early.
Miller accepted a position as superintendent of the Sonora Union High School District in Sonora, California, which was announced earlier this week. He requested the contract change on Wednesday.
His contract originally expired June 30, 2019. He’s been in the position for four years.
The board could have asked that Miller’s superintendent license be revoked for not fulfilling his terms of employment. But they decided not to do that.
Miller has been publicly vague about his reasons for leaving, saying it is simply time for him to go. Whatever the reason, it seemed to be enough for the board.
“I can’t really say because of confidentiality reasons why he resigned, but he has reached a point where he just needs to leave the district and it was a suitable reason that I think the members of the board thought it was good enough to let him go without any penalty,” said board member Emil Mackey.
Two members of the public showed up to testify and were not as sympathetic. Jim Housley, a former teacher in the district, said the board should learn from this incident when selecting Miller’s replacement.
By leaving early, Miller does forgo a 5 percent bonus on his $165,000 salary. According to an article by the Union Democrat, he is also taking a $10,000 pay cut.
Miller is originally from California and still has family there. He came to Juneau from Hayward Unified School District.
Miller’s release is effective Aug. 15, just before the start of school on Aug. 20.
The school district will look internally for an interim superintendent while a permanent replacement is sought.
The board identified four district staff members who have their superintendent certifications — Thunder Mountain High School Principal Dan Larson, Dzantik’i Heeni Middle School Principal Molly Yerkes, Director of Human Resources for the district Darryl Smith and Director of Student Services Bridget Weiss. Board members acknowledged that there may be other qualified staff they are not yet aware of.
