Gerrie Fausett "retired," only to be rehired within three months: DOUBLE DIPPING into public education money.



School Zone » Superintendent Gerrie Fausett to Retire from Hope School District

Superintendent Gerrie Fausett to Retire from Hope School DistrictFausett, at the helm during a painful restructuring phase, says the district is in 'a good place.'
By Rob Kuznia, Noozhawk Staff Writer | Published on 01.12.2009

Gerrie Fausett, superintendent of the Hope Elementary School District, plans to retire at the end of the school year. She said there’s no “hidden reason” behind her decision, and that the timing is right for her to pursue other interests: attending Los Angeles Angels games and playing the cello. (Colin Macfadyen / Noozhawk photo)

Gerrie Fausett, the superintendent of the tiny but high-performing Hope Elementary School District in Santa Barbara, announced Monday that she will retire at the end of the school year.

Fausett arrived at the district in January 2005, but for decades has been a prominent educator in the Santa Barbara area. At Hope, she was charged with the high-profile task of steering the three-school system through a painful period of downsizing to ensure its fiscal solvency.

It was a rough road, one that involved shedding all of the students who transferred to the Outer-State-Street-area district from outside its boundaries. Since Fausett took the job, the district’s enrollment has fallen from 1,425 to 980.

But school board President Tony Winterbauer said the district is financially better off for it.

“Having to go down the path, and face the challenges she has had to face — it’s very tough,” he said. “She did a fantastic job. I’m definitely sorry to see her go.”

Fausett, who turns 61 this month, said she thought long and hard about her decision, but ultimately concluded that retiring this year would mean leaving on a good note.

“We’re in such a good place in the district,” she said Monday. “We finally reached that place we wanted to reach.”

For many years, the Hope district accepted transfer students with open arms because doing so was financially beneficial — California paid the district on a per-child basis. Families from Santa Barbara and Goleta flocked to the Hope district, attracted by its high test scores and strong PTAs.

By 2006, things had changed. The district’s rising property values and shrinking student base helped it generate enough money in property taxes to pay for its operations without state assistance. Put another way, Hope — owing largely to its proximity to the ultra-wealthy Hope Ranch neighborhood — now benefits financially from serving fewer students. The funding framework is known as “basic aid.”

For the district, made up of three schools — Monte Vista, Vieja Valley and the namesake Hope — last year’s switch to basic aid couldn’t have come at a better time. The enviable financial status largely insulates it from the gouging many local school districts are expecting from the state, which is trying to come to grips with a historic $40 billion budget deficit.

Fausett said she has no immediate plans for the future, other than to find more time to enjoy two of her favorite pastimes: attending Los Angeles Angels games and playing the cello.

“There’s ballparks to visit, there’s music to play, there’s islands to explore,” she said. “I’d also like to spend more time with my family, and maybe do some volunteering here and there.”

A resident of the San Roque neighborhood, Fausett was infected by a desire to teach as early as junior high school in her native Wichita, Kan. After attending Wichita State University, she landed her first teaching job in Gulf Port, Miss., where her husband, Larry, had been stationed in the Coast Guard, and “where segregation was rampant.”

The powers that be, she said, had purposefully drawn up the school district’s boundaries so that nearly all of the students at one school were white, and nearly all of the students at the other school were black.

Fausett was sent to the latter school. In the eighth-grade history class she taught, all of the students were black, save for one white boy — the son of a minister.

On one of her first days, the school was finally getting around to replacing its old sign, which read: “Gulf Port Negro School.” (She made sure to get a photo.)

“Walking into the South in the 1970s was like being in the South in the 1950s,” she said. “There were separate facilities, they just weren’t marked.”

Fausett and her husband later lit off for California, where he pursued his Ph.D. in biology and she continued her schooling in education at UCLA, and later Cal-State Northridge. (Larry Fausett eventually landed a job as the operations and maintenance manager of the Santa Barbara County Flood Control District, from which he recently retired.)

In 1982, Fausett went to work for the Santa Barbara School District, where she remained for 21 years.

From her first day in Santa Barbara, her star was ascendant. Her tenure in the Santa Barbara district included stints as a kindergarten teacher at Washington Elementary, an assistant principal at La Colina Junior High, the principal at Washington Elementary, and then the principal at Santa Barbara Junior High. When Fausett accepted the position at the Hope district in late 2004, she was serving as one of the Santa Barbara district’s three assistant superintendents.

As for her musical prowess, that started early, too. Fausett began playing the cello in third grade, at the public school she attended. The notion sounds quaint these days in California, where music education has become a luxury.

“In Kansas, they figured out that that really is a part of developing an individual,” she said. “I wish I’d been able to put in some sort of an instrumental music program. That would really have been a ‘wow’ kind of thing to have.”

Fausett used to play in the Santa Barbara City College orchestra, but the rigors of her career eventually robbed her of that outlet. Once retired — her last official day will be June 30 — she hopes to regain it.

During her four-year stay at the Hope district, her salary increased from $122,000 to $132,000.

In addition to bringing the district into basic aid, Fausett said she’s proud of the improvement shown by the district’s relatively small proportion of poor students, the majority of them Latino. Had any of the schools failed to boost the scores of that demographic, they would have been labeled a failing school by the federal government under the No Child Left Behind law, stellar overall test scores notwithstanding.

Fausett said she’s also proud of a new program spearheaded by faculty and parents at Hope school, in which every student in grades four through six receives a laptop computer to take home for the year, with an option to purchase it.

“All of our students need to be ready for the 21st century, given the wealth of information out there,” she said.

Because of the tasks she faced, Fausett was sometimes a controversial leader. During her first few months on the job, she rotated the school’s three principals, sparking fervent protests from parents. She also took heat from parents who were upset about having to leave the district. Through it all, she was supported by the school board.

Looking back, Fausett said the dirty jobs needed to be done, although she added that it wasn’t easy. “We miss those families, but we had to do it — I had to do it,” she said.

Asked whether her departure has anything to do with how the board recently swore in two new members (Chad Prentice and Chris Gallo), both Fausett and Winterbauer gave an emphatic no.

“I think Gerrie is truly a professional,” said Winterbauer, who was elected to the board in November 2006. “She understood what needed to be done. … It’s tough to see her go. It wouldn’t have been our choice, but we definitely know this is what she wants for her family, and we respect that.”

Fausett, the mother of a 25-year-old son, said there is no “hidden reason” behind her decision.

“This is just taking a good, hard, long look at where is the district, what’s best for the district and where am I,” she said. “Like I said, I got ballparks to visit and music to play. Life is short.”

Write to rkuznia@noozhawk.com.



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» RKV on 01.13.09 @ 02:11 AM

“Hope — owing largely to its proximity to the ultra-wealthy Hope Ranch neighborhood — now benefits financially from serving fewer students.”

Factually untrue. And biased in the negative.

It isn’t Hope Ranch neighborhoods that increased in property value that made the difference, it was the sale of the La Cumbre Mall. Home prices and tax receipts from Hope Ranch had been going up for a long time, and never reached the level necessary to support basic aid until that transaction.

As to your statement about serving fewer students, you might consider a neutral wording like - supports the students who it is legally responsible for under its charter at a level higher than typical for the state. In other words, it does the job it was designed to do and does it well. And no it doesn’t solve the problems of other school districts in the area - they need to improve themselves.

As a resident of the district of many years, it is my opinion that the importation of students from outside the district was a mistake from the get go, made possible only by the dedicated volunteer work of district parents.

Oh, and get ready for it - barring some demographic changes the district may return to two operating schools in the future.

Good luck Gerrie, and enjoy your retirement.



» JAG on 01.13.09 @ 05:38 AM

Best wishes to Gerrie Fausett. My kids went to SBJH when she was principal. She did a great job.



» localgirl on 01.13.09 @ 05:59 AM

Good Luck to Gerrie.
So many times she had to be the “fall person” and she did it gracefully. She did not hide her head in the sand. I think she did a great job making sure the district was going to survive all the budget cuts. Yes, she did anger many, but she made some changes that needed to be made. She took care of her district schools and families.



» Cathy on 01.13.09 @ 06:54 AM

Good luck to Mrs. Fausett. She has more than earned her retirement. I can’t believe she’s turning 61, despite all the stress, she looks at least a decade younger!



» A SBJH Parent on 01.13.09 @ 07:24 AM

Gerrie has always been a tireless advocate for children and teachers. Her ability to listen and not judge served her well when employed by SBSD. Her leadership was key in helping to make SBJH a thriving community where students and parents felt a true sense of partnership. Her ascent to Hope School District was indeed a loss for SBSD, but a well deserved opportunity. Kudos, Gerrie, for giving so much to so many.



» reality check on 01.13.09 @ 08:33 AM

Are you all serious?? Gerrie ruined an amazing district with three fantastic schools full of happy children and enthusiastic parents. She immediately rotated the principals causing upheaval (and due to Monte Vista’s vicious treatment and her own attacks on Mr. Plomondon, caused the beginning of the end for him). She (with the Board’s approval) culminates her tenure by going against the promise made to let current transfer students finish, and kicks them out. This tore apart a community. Over a hundred families are still reeling from this. Families that were used when the money was needed, and discarded when it wasn’t. She may say the Hope School District is right where they wanted all along, but those transfer students who helped bring the high test scores and the parents who volunteered tirelessly were part of what made the schools great. Just wait until next year when all of the 6th grade transfer students are gone as well. Property values of the homes in the district will probably continue to plummet, and then you don’t make Basic Aid. They’ll be begging for transfer students again, with no regard to the “children first” credo of the district. Oh, and let’s see those test scores this year - the first year without all the transfer students. That should be enlightening. And how soon until one of the three schools is closed? Great idea for Gerrie to leave now, before the long term ramifications of her policies are fully realized.



» PKrgr121 on 01.13.09 @ 11:41 AM

Gerrie will be sorely missed. She is a natural leader and it was so evident when the interdistrict transfers parents were so irrational and mean spirited, Gerrie and the Board stayed above the fray. Unfortunately, Inter District Transfer parents always knew they were on a year to year basis and felt entitled to perpetuity.
Even with property values declining, Basic Aid will continue to be beneficial to the District as homes purchased years ago and taxed on those purchase prices are sold at current prices. Based on the economic conditon of the state, she and the Board were extremely clairvoyant.

Those critical of Gerrie and the Board’s principal rotation are seeing the positive results gained at our schools.

Have fun Gerrie, see you on your neighborhood walks!



» DKP on 01.13.09 @ 12:18 PM

I am in full agreement with both RKV and Reality check’ opinions. The full impact of the shuffle hasn’t been fully seen as of yet. I’m so glad now to be out of that depressing district due to my child starting junior high. It has not been the same since… before Ms. Fausett.



» Not Impressed on 01.13.09 @ 01:46 PM

How fortunate for Gerrie that she can upset the lives of so many families and of the district as a whole but then not have to stay on to pick up the pieces or follow things through to the end.



» lehlthomres@gmail.com on 01.13.09 @ 04:22 PM

School administrators are leaving sinking school ships in droves—-and their retirement packages are revealing an unseemly large distribution of public funds going into private pockets.

The collapse of the national economy will expose the real reason our schools are failing: a bloated school administrative bureaucracy has self-aggrandized to the point that teachers and children are secondary to administrative self-interests.

School corruption is rampant and retaliation against whistleblowers—-teachers and parents—-is severe.

That you would state “there is no ‘hidden reason’” for traipsing off at an early age to “ballparks” when our schools have never faced such challenges is more than curious—-it is suspect. Please reveal your retirement package—-benefits and pay.

Friends of Patrick Plamondon mourn not only his death, but the destruction of a school community by district administrators who refused to rationally discuss, respectfully dialogue, or democratically deal with dissent.

Santa Barbara is reading “School Corruption: Betrayal of Our Children and the Public Trust” and “White Chalk Crime: The REAL Reason Our Schools Fail.”

Mobilize on http://www.sbschooltalk.com. Exposure—-it’s gonna be big.



» RKV on 01.14.09 @ 03:51 AM

“Tore apart a community?” What Ms. Fausett did, with the Hope School District Board’s approval, was do what was best for the people the district is legally responsible to educate - i.e. the kids who live there. The sense of entitlement from persons who KNEW that their children’s status was year to year transfer approval is appalling. You knew the rules when you transferred into the district and now you feel like kids local to the district have to make do with less so your child can transfer in? Nope.

And what is the cult of personality with Patrick Plomondon? He was a nice enough guy as I knew him (which is barely), but guess what folks? You transfer parents couldn’t see he was manipulating you - holding out false hopes he couldn’t deliver on, then blaming his management?? That disloyalty to his employer is enough to recommend he leave.

Remember that the Hope School District Board elected by the citizens of the district had to approve the decision. All the critics are doing is scapegoating an individual who did what the elected politicians determined to be in the best interest of their constituents. As a district resident of many years, I think the Board did the right thing. The attitude of certain posters here proves it.



» OMG on 01.14.09 @ 05:35 PM

lehlthomres@gmail.com - What are you smoking? Don’t blog this article to exploit your venomous propagandist website.

Show us your retirement package..



» HSDParent on 01.15.09 @ 05:03 AM

lehlthomres: Hope School Dist is run out of a small office that includes Gerri Fausett, a business manager and a secretary. Not exactly sure how you define “a bloated school administrative bureaucracy”, but it seems like you just might have your facts confused.

Reality Check: Your irrational, egocentric and bitter. You mention 100 families that “suffer” as a result of the transfers being stopped. Do you consider the 940 families that paid premium prices for homes specifically to have their kids in a good school district? They are celebrating the vision and courage of Gerrie.



» lehlthomres@gmail.com on 01.15.09 @ 06:08 AM

I commented on Gerrie Fausett’s curiously early retirement and a blogger assumed that I had been a “transfer-parent;” I am not.

“OMG” deemed the “elected school board” responsible for the decision; it wasn’t—-school boards are tails wagged by BIG DOGS with teeth.

The comment about Patrick Plamondon—-that he was “disloyal” to the employer and deserved termination is TELLING: Education has become an industry and the “employer” demands “loyalty.” (“My way or the highway.”) This is facism and has become the modus operandi for school administration.

The board swears an oath and the superintendent signs a contract TO UPHOLD THE DEMOCRATIC PRINCIPLES OF THE UNITED STATES. Teachers are professionals who must follow the tenets of educational philosophy—-and their conscience—-yet they are forced to violate both by administrators who have NCLB issues.

The system is illegal, unethical, uncivil, and immoral.

Our school systems have lost sight of our children and the Educational Mission. Elected school boards are easily co-opted and approve whatever is put on their plate.

Psychological viruses infect administrative educRat$ into thinking that “it’s not all that wrong,” “everybody steals a little; I deserve it as much as the nest guy,” “this is how we do it here,” “it’s good for my career,” and the all-important, “we can’t get caught because we’re the boss.”

A heirarchical structure allows the superintendent to wield his hiring-and-firing power as a tool to obtain his agenda and illicit allegience from his minions—- it is the root of corruption. The company culture then turns to “pleasing” the leader to gain promotion, perks, and “atta boy” pats on the back. Remember, Hitler and the Holocaust happened—-an entire nation was turned into oxymoronic “Good Nazis.”

Retaliation against teachers and parents who advocate for children’s educational rights or whistleblow on corruption is so severe that the nation’s sociologists and psychologists are studying an epidemic of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder—-permanent neurological damage.

Our school systems have lost sight of our children and the Educational Mission and that “disconnect” is our downfall. Money is no longer circulating through the school system but rather stays in the hands of those with power—-and absolute power corrupts absolutely.

That our society cannot read The Writing on the Wall is indicative of school failure and impending collapse.

Whistleblowers across the nation are sounding an alarm! DANGER! It comes from the school yard—-weren’t you taught to Stop! Look! and Listen? When will we learn? Visit http://www.sbschooltalk.com for lessons.

That OMG calls sbschooltalk “venomous propaganda” and asks “what have I been smoking?” is dogmatic BIG DOG “sound bites.” My, what big teeth you have! Our country is in deep doo-doo.

I gave you my e-mail; you give me yours. You label sbschooltalk “venomous propaganda” yet didn’t get past the home page—-that millions of whistleblowers are online exposing school corruption while “school booster cronies” (see sbschooltalk article) are blogging and blowing it out their proverbial ass—-from whence the stench of corruption comes—-is a symptom societal psychosis.

That the head of the Body Politic—-elected boards and councils—-are blind to suffering, deaf to outrage and has lost its senses—-the abilities to see and hear its constituents, to smell corruption—-is iconic: “See No Evil, Hear No Evil, Smell No Evil.”

The People are rising to confront school corruption and the educational-political complex that has insitutionalized it. Our democracy depends upon us to “wake up” and smell the most dangerous threat to our nation’s being.

Exposure—-it’s gonna be big. Have a nice uprising!



» Reality Check for Reality Check on 01.15.09 @ 07:57 AM

“Realisty Check” needs a reality check! The reason that transfer students flocked to Hope District was because of the high test scores and prolific PTAs - those things pre-dated the transfers, and will post date them as well. I paid a premium price for a home in the district 13 years ago (when living in the district was the only way for my kids to attend district schools) sent all of my children through - with high test scores - and worked tirelessly as a parent volunteer. Those who were lucky enough to transfer in for a while ought to be thankful rather than bitter.
My kids had plenty of friends who were transfer students whose parents did NOTHING in terms of volunteering, and were always there with their handout when it came to recieving ‘scholarships’ (paid for by the other students)so that they didn’t have to pay for fieldtrips etc. Sure, there were a lot of terrific transfer families, but just like in any demographic, there were the blood suckers too.



» eadamze26 on 01.15.09 @ 09:55 AM

Gerrie did a great job and I wish her well.

As it relates to transfers, they were lucky to have had the experience compared to not. It all centers around a perceived “take away” when they knew they were fortuntate to be there.

Many of the transfer parents wanted the view on the Mesa or Riviera or the charm of San Roque but did not want their children in their neighborhood schools, isn’t that self centered and doesn’t that shed some light on the the issue? Translation, I do not want my children going to school with or playing with the gardener’s children.



» SB District Teacher on 01.15.09 @ 07:12 PM

I’m a teacher in the SB School District. I never worked with Gerrie, but I was in meetings with her and knew people who worked with her. She was very much admired. One of the most amazing things I remember about her is when she was principal she proclaimed, “I don’t do desks.” What she meant was she is not at her desk during school hours. She was out with the kids, with the teachers, with the support staff, meeting with parents etc. What an amazing dedication! Principals have ungodly work loads, and most are tied to their desks like embilical cords. She deserves much admiration for the job she did turning around SB Junior High. The principal that followed couldn’t keep the job because of the work load, and that principal was 25 years younger!

On another note. Look at the volume of positive comments on this forum for superintendent Fausett! (There are some negative comments, but they’re mostly from the disgruntled transfer parents—Fausett made the correct, though difficult, choice on that issue and has to suffer some slings and arrows). Contrast this outpouring of support to the comments about Sarvis on previous articles. They are overwhelmingly critical of him. I may not be a math teacher, but I can add 2 + 2. Sarvis has to go. Maybe the SB district could entice Gerrie Fausett out of retirement?



» LLB on 01.15.09 @ 11:10 PM

RKV stated “made possible only by the dedicated volunteer work of district parents”. Most of the parents of transfer families I know did a great deal of volunteering and fundraising.

My children attended Monte Vista for 11 years, 9 years living IN the district and 2 years as transfers. I agree that there are many bright and wonderful students there. They were fine before transfers and they will be fine after.
But, I wish we had left HSD sooner now that our last child is going to her new Goleta school. The Hope School District reputation is overblown. Some of the postings speak of the bitterness of the transfer families. I think the ugliness of some of the people living in the district towards the transfer families is awful. I’m also glad to be away from the drama of it all!

School superintendents definitely like to retire at the top of their game and pay scale.



» SBM on 01.18.09 @ 08:51 AM

RKV - you obviously are not privy to the misleading promises made by Gerrie Fausett to the transfers families that she so desparately wanted to intice to coming to the Hope District when she could use them for their money. She told these families in no uncertain words that their children would be able to matriculate through 6th grade—that was the district’s policy and they should count on that. Should they have assumed she was lying? Her actions were manipulative and dishonest. BTW, Patrick was the only administrator in the district that truly cared for the welfare of the students. He was honest and forthright. Gerrie retired 4 years too late.



» Quill of the Heart on 01.19.09 @ 07:26 PM

A Noozhawk article today proclaims that Patrick Plamondon died of natural causes but the forces that led him to his death were unnatural.

I am in touch with a dear friend of his who asks that I put my principles and points to rest with the broken-hearted soul of Principal Patrick—-but I can’t.

There are many people whose love for children and the teaching profession cry out to our society to stand up for civil rights and democratic education.

Please don’t bother to blog your insults, defend your friends, call for the police to take me away, or suggest that I get back on my meds.

Just take a moment to remember a man who laughed with our children and loved that he was entrusted with their care; he will live on in their hearts long after we’re gone.

Just remember a man who was removed from his community—-parents and children who looked to him for leadership—- for no other reason than money and the want of it.

Santa Barbara is a Spoiled Paradise. That Patrick would die—-alone in a jail cell—-from a broken heart is more than ironic. It is iconic.

His death called a community—-parents and children—-to gather by the sea and say a sad farewell to a man who died too young while the winds of school-corruption exposure blew in from across the nation.

Spirit and truth walk a powerful path to peace and justice—-it is there that the dead rest for good.

Visit Parent Advocates.org to combat administrative abuse. Betsy Combier is one of the leading whistleblowers in the school corruption and exposure movement

Happy Martin Luther King Day.



» Lou on 01.19.09 @ 08:01 PM

SBM, the bottom line is that Gerrie Faucett wasn’t/isn’t responsible for California’s budget woes and the unfortunate toll that they’ve taken in the form of cuts to education. What she WAS/IS responsible for is how the Hope District reacts to those cuts. This continued vilification of her is ridiculous. She and the school board did the jobs they were hired/elected to do.
It is my honest belief that if the transfer parents at Hope hadn’t made an immediate media circus out of the principal rotation, even threatening in one well circulated letter at the time, to “bring Hope District to it’s knees”, things might have worked out differently - maybe it’s time for them to take a little responsibility for the way things turned out.



» stand up for leadership on 03.16.09 @ 02:01 AM

Does the public really want people in leadership positions who shrink from tough decisions? It is a sad day when we applaud the average and express public outrage for leadership. It’s no wonder our public school system lags behind so many other countries

.....