The Orange Unified School Board unanimously appointed one of its existing assistant superintendents as acting superintendent March 2.
Assistant superintendent Ernie Gonzalez will be the district’s temporary superintendent while the board works to find a permanent replacement with the help of an outside consultant.
“We look forward to [Gonzalez’s] leadership as the Board of Education embarks on its search to select a new superintendent,” district spokesperson Hana Brake told The Epoch Times in an email.
The spokesperson said Gonzalez had been with the district since 2010, serving in various positions in its human resources department before becoming an assistant superintendent in 2019.
In 2021, Gonzalez was paid $242,472 by the district, according to the public pay database Transparent California.
The board’s unanimous decision comes after months of division over district leadership—which began in early January when its conservative majority voted to fire its longtime superintendent, Gunn Marie Hansen, and place assistant superintendent Cathleen Corella on leave pending an academic audit.
Shortly after, Edward Velasquez, a retired educator who previously served as interim superintendent for San Diego Unified School District, was appointed as interim superintendent by the board majority.
However, Velasquez only held the position for a little over a month before he resigned Feb. 15.
Brake told The Epoch Times in a previous interview that Velasquez stepped down because he was approaching his post-retirement earning limits—as he already receives a pension as a retired educator—and felt he had fulfilled his obligation to look at organizational needs and help guide the board in their search for a superintendent.
Brake also said Velasquez partially chose to leave because he felt the district’s focus had been taken off students.
“The district’s focus should always be on our students, and it seems that is not the case right now,” she said.
However, the board presented a more united front at its March 3 meeting, with trustees on both sides supporting Gonzalez’s appointment.
Liberal trustees Ana Page, Andrea Yamasaki, and Kris Erickson said during the meeting they hoped Gonzalez could help the district right-size after so many changes.
“I hope that this appointment provides some stability for our students, employees, and families while we search for a permanent superintendent,” Erickson said. “I think we’re in good hands ... and I look forward to a thorough superintendent search.”
In the meantime, Gonzalez will likely continue the academic audit begun by Velasquez, which focused on student test scores and identifying strategies to boost academic achievement.
Until the academic audit is completed, Corella—whose leave is contingent upon the audit’s findings—remains on a leave of absence.
Neither Gonzalez nor board members were immediately available for comment.
