Former Napa principal appointed to independently review Mayacamas school approval backs out

The person appointed to independently review conditions of the controversial Mayacamas Countywide Middle School approval has rescinded the post due to “personal reasons.”

Former Napa school principal Julie Herdell was tasked with determining if petitioners sufficiently met 11 conditions tied to the Napa County Office of Education’s March 5 approval of the countywide school.

The conditional approval had prompted swift legal response from the Napa Valley Unified School District seeking to undo it. But before that legal battle can play out, it must be determined if petitioners have fulfilled the conditions. If not, the decision could be reversed.

The county schools board voted April 2 to appoint Herdell. Though, she ultimately chose not to accept the appointment, associate superintendent Julie McClure said in a statement Wednesday.

“An alternative course of action has yet to be determined,” McClure wrote.

The conditions of approval, among others, include charter petitioners submitting documentation showing:

• A plan for reading instruction for students that are substantially under-achieving.

• A school safety plan.

• A process for curriculum adoption.

• A plan for providing adaptive technology for special education students.

• Uniform complaint policy and procedures.

• Budget revisions, including adding on transportation expenses for a minimum of the cost of transporting 12% of projected enrollment.

• Outlining various administrative service processes, such as how personnel transactions would be conducted, and an explanation of how the school intends to manage risk.

Petitioner Lauren Daley previously said the Napa Foundation for Options in Education — which oversees the Mayacamas school — had provided a response to satisfy the conditions, and will work with the county schools office to make sure that’s the case.

Typically, compliance with those conditions of approval would be verified by county schools staff. But schools superintendent Barbara Nemko said at the meeting the board expressed interest in also having an outside validator, so she had identified Herdell to be interviewed by the board. Nemko said she thought someone who had worked for the Napa district and understood its dynamics would be most appropriate for the role.

Herdell expressed at the meeting that she thought she could serve in the role and present an objective opinion. But the larger legal conflict loomed over her decision — Herdell said she was concerned about how the work she would do would play into that.

Indeed, the board gave Herdell a way out, allowing for her to have an opportunity — via a conversation with attorney Frank Zotter — to figure out whether the legal situation met her needs, before accepting the appointment.

“We’ve given you an out, if you will, if you don’t feel comfortable, relative to how the attorney gives an opinion about your protection over all of this, to not accept the role,” Huffman told Herdell at the meeting.

Some board members and public commenters at the April 2 meeting questioned whether Herdell was right for the role.

David Gracia, an NVUSD board member, said he wondered what sort of charter oversight experience Herdell had, and what her financial expertise is “in order to understand the financial aspects of the charter.” (In the lawsuit, the district has alleged the county schools board and Nemko didn’t consider the fiscal impact the countywide charter school would have on the district, and that they violated education law.)

Herdell responded that she had worked closely with the former River Middle School charter school and worked on budgets, along with the district office, as an NVUSD principal.

Nemko noted that, as far as those questions went, Herdell would be talking to county schools staff who had put forth the conditions — that “she will be getting most of her information from them, as to how they perceive the responses they got.”

Board member Sindy Biederman also questioned to what extent Herdell was appropriate for the role — in part, owing to her lack of experience with middle schools — and asked whether the county office had considered anyone else, including people or organizations outside of Napa County. She suggested the Fiscal Crisis and Management Assistance Team.

Nemko said that though FCMAT could look at the fiscal issues, they wouldn’t be able to assess the other aspects of the conditions and the petition.

Other board members said they thought Herdell was a great choice. Board member Jennifer Kresge said she thought it was important to have someone from Napa County evaluate the conditions, and that Herdell seemed impartial.

“It seems to me that she’s a really good candidate, and somebody from the outside wouldn’t know all the nuances of this county and the challenges that we had or have currently,” Kresge said.

You can reach Staff Writer Edward Booth at 707-521-5281 or edward.booth@pressdemocrat.com.