Edmond Heatley has withdrawn his candidacy for the post of Berkeley Schools district Superintendent. Heatley was the only candidate in the running, after the school board let it be known on Aug. 31 that they had narrowed to field down to one.
An alert released by BUSD at 8:38am today reads:
In an email to Board President John T. Selawsky Dr. Edmund Heatley said: “I want to thank you personally for all of your time and support. I have attached my letter of withdrawal from candidacy for the position of Superintendent of the Berkeley Unified School District. I wish you, the Board and Community of Berkeley nothing but success in the future.”
The Board will be meeting in the days and weeks ahead to determine the next step. President Selawsky stated, “We will advise the community as soon as we have determined what that next step will be. Fortunately we have two very capable interim superintendents doing a great job of running the District while we work this out.”
The credentials of Edmond Heatley, who resigned as Superintendent of Clayton County, GA, school district on August 30, the day before a contingent from BUSD made a site visit to Clayton County, have come under fire from the Berkeley Federation of Teachers, as well as from individual teachers and parents. The focus for much of the criticism is Heatley’s training at The Broad Superintendent’s Academy, his management style, and his role in the passage of a resolution in support of Proposition 8 when he was superintendent in San Bernardino County’s Chino Valley school district.
The withdrawal of Heatley puts the school board back to the start of a superintendent search that was triggered by Bill Huyett’s retirement announcement last December. A high-profile, very consultative search led by consultants from Hazard, Young, Attea and Associates produced a short list last spring. But according to sources, the board was deadlocked 3-2 over two finalists in that search and neither side was willing to compromise. In August, the board named two senior BUSD administrators as joint interim superintendents. After the spring deadlock, the board had been able to agree unanimously on Heatley as the only finalist for the superintendent post. The likelihood now is that leadership in the superintendent search will pass from Selawsky, who is not running for re-election, to director Leah Wilson, who assumes the board presidency later this year.
Related:
Berkeley school board calls special meeting for Tuesday [09.17.12]
Questions about Heatley’s role in Prop 8 resolution swirl [09.14.12]
Superintendent candidate supported Prop 8 in Chino post [09.14.12]
Heatley’s Broad Academy connections attract criticism [09.12.12]
Likely new Berkeley school superintendent under scrutiny [09.05.12]
Berkeley school district names likely superintendent [08.31.12]
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