Parents in Oxnard Decry Studt Firing

Parent leaders blasted the Oxnard Union High School Board of Trustees on Wednesday for firing a veteran superintendent, an action that they said will cost the district at least $220,000 in severance pay at a time when budget cuts are looming.

Trustees, who fired Bill Studt in a 3-2 vote Tuesday afternoon, declined to elaborate on the decision Wednesday, aside from the “philosophical differences” they had cited after the termination.

In the aftermath of the firing, some parents suggested a recall election to oust the three trustees--Steve Stocks, Robert Valles and Dick Jaquez--who voted to fire Studt after nine years on the job.

Political consultant and parent Debra Creadick said she has had about a dozen offers to help with a recall effort. “You have a superintendent who is honest, ethical and believes people should be held accountable for their actions, and you have a majority voting bloc that has shown nothing but disdain and contempt for those values,” Creadick said. “There’s your philosophical difference.”

At a May board meeting, trustee Nancy Koch accused Stocks, Valles and Jaquez of abusing their travel privileges and their district-owned credit cards by taking recruiting trips unapproved by the board, as district policy requires.

Her accusations caused the three trustees eventually to hand in their credit cards, agreeing to check them out as needed and obtain approval from the board for any business-related travel.

Stocks has refused to answer any questions on the firing; Jaquez and Valles could not be reached for comment Wednesday.

Koch, a dissenting vote and Studt supporter, said that she wished she could express her feelings about the firing but that she was bound by a confidentiality agreement.

“My vote speaks for itself, and we’ve got to move on,” she said.

Rio Mesa High School parent Sandy Rao, president of the school’s Parent-Faculty Assn., said Studt’s severance package will cost the district money that could have been put toward any number of better uses, including a $1-million pool proposed for Rio Mesa.

“As parents, we feel tossed about, like there’s nobody at the helm who has our students’ interests in mind,” Rao said. “The whole thing has so little to do with the students that it defies understanding.”

However, at least one parent said the change in the superintendent’s office could be positive for the district, which she feels has suffered from a lack of strong leadership.

“I don’t know why this came about, and it may have come about for the wrong reasons, but the fact is that now there’s a chance to get someone who can get us where we need to be,” said Barbara Macri-Ortiz, an Oxnard attorney and parent of two.

Studt’s severance package--equivalent to 15 months’ salary and benefits--is more than $221,000, according to provisions in his contract, and could include another $15,000 in vacation time. The money will come from the district’s general fund, said Gary Davis, who was named interim superintendent Tuesday by the board.

Rising energy costs and cuts in the state’s education funding are likely to result in a tightening of the district’s belt next year, Davis said. The board will meet in a study session on the budget at 11 a.m. today.

Ventura County Supt. of Schools Chuck Weis described Studt as a well-respected educational leader.

“The way this was handled,” Weis said, “was not in keeping with the good work he’s done over the years.”

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Times staff writers Daryl Kelley and Fred Alvarez contributed to this story.