High school district superintendent resigns amid lawsuits

March 8, 2024

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Concernered Jewish Parents and Teachers of LA

Nellie Meyer, the superintendent of the Mountain View-Los Altos High School District, has announced her retirement while two high-profile lawsuits are pending against her district.

The Deborah Project, a pro-Israel law firm, sued the district in June for allegedly ignoring a California Public Records Act request related to a pro-Palestinian consultant who was hired to train teachers.

The district allegedly missed the deadlines required by the California Public Records Act, and now the Deborah Project wants the district to pay its attorney fees for having to go to court.

The second lawsuit alleges that Mountain View High School Principal Kip Glazer pressured student reporters to censor an article about sexual harassment among students.

Student editor Hanna Olson, student reporter Hayes Duenow and former advisor to “The Oracle” Carla Gomez sued in February, seeking a promise from the district that future articles won’t be censored, and to allow for the uncensored article to be published.

Gomez also wants to be reinstated as advisor, the lawsuit says.

Meyer didn’t respond to phone calls or emails about the lawsuits when they were filed, nor her retirement on Tuesday.

Meyer was hired to start the 2019-2020 school year and led the district through the pandemic shutdown and a return to the classroom.

Board President Sanjay Dave said the district will hire a search firm to find Meyer’s replacement.

“While she will be greatly missed, we are confident in our ability to find a worthy successor who will continue to uphold the high standards of our district,” Dave said.

The district has 4,448 students who score well on tests, according to California School Dashboard.

Meyer received $445,075 in total pay and benefits in 2022, the most recent year with data from Transparent California.

Meyer previously was the superintendent of the Mt. Diablo Unified School District in the East Bay. She worked in education for 35 years.

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Is antisemitism in school settings illegal?

Acts of Antisemitism can be the basis of a legal violation, so long as those acts create an interference with the ability to do one's job or to participate in one's educational experience.

Don't teachers have free speech rights, so they can't be punished for saying antisemitic things?

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Do anti-Zionist/anti-Israel assertions constitute a violation of anti-discrimination laws?

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Discrimination in education is governed by Title VI of the 1964 Civil Rights Act. But Title VI doesn't include religion as a protected category. So is antisemitism not considered discriminatory under Title VI?

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