Roseland schools superintendent resigns, with paid leave through mid-2021

The superintendent of Roseland Public Schools has resigned, but will remain on paid administrative leave until her contract expires in June 2021, a board member confirmed Wednesday.

Amy Jones-Kerr, who has led the district since 2014, formally gave notice of her resignation at the district’s Nov. 18 board meeting.

She is set to finish the school year on paid leave, as allowed under her contract set to expire next June, said Patricia Krueger, vice president of the Roseland School District Board.

“It’s within the terms of her contract to do that,” Krueger said. She did not specify how much Jones-Kerr is set to earn in that time. In 2018, the starting year of her current contract, her annual salary was about $180,000.

Jones-Kerr’s resignation came just a month after a group of alumni and families from the Roseland School District spoke up at a district board meeting about experiences with racism, transphobia, favoritism and other forms of discrimination in school environments.

In response, the district has hosted one listening session to gather more feedback on students’ experiences with bias and discrimination, said Ricardo Navarrette, chair of the affiliated Roseland Charter School Board. Leaders are planning more action in the coming months to address the issues raised, he said.

Jones-Kerr, 46, said the recent revelations, which came out in October, were not the reason for her sudden resignation. She declined to elaborate on any workplace factors driving her decision.

“It’s just time,” Jones-Kerr said. “This is the best decision for myself and my family.”

She did not return follow-up calls seeking additional comment Wednesday, after The Press Democrat learned Jones-Kerr remains on paid administrative following her notice of resignation.

Jones-Kerr’s email message to district staff included no additional details on the reason for her decision, though she said she made the announcement with “extreme sadness.”

“This was never my intent, as I grew up in our district serving in several different capacities and imagined myself retiring out of my second home,” she wrote.

The board on Nov. 18 selected Laurie Biggers, Roseland’s director of curriculum and assessment, to serve as acting superintendent through the rest of the school year while it conducts a national recruitment for the post.

Biggers said that providing stability and supporting students still learning from home are her main priorities in the top job.

“I was really happy to step in,” she said. “I would say I wasn’t expecting it, but I feel qualified because of my experience and what I’ve been doing in the district office.”

Navarrette described Jones-Kerr, a former teacher and school administrator in the district, as “a school leader with great passion and energy.”

She began her career while a college student as a volunteer in a classroom at Sheppard Elementary School and landed her first teaching job there. Over the next 24 years, she worked her way through a variety of teaching positions, eventually switching to administrative roles.

She was the founding assistant principal at Roseland University Prep when it opened in 2004. In 2012, the year that Jones-Kerr left to become the first principal at Roseland Collegiate Prep, RUP was named the seventh-best high school in California and 40th best in the nation by U.S. News and World Report.

She was named superintendent of the district in 2014, succeeding Gail Ahlas after her retirement. The district encompasses six schools, including charter campuses Roseland Accelerated Middle School, Roseland University Prep and Roseland Collegiate Prep. It serves about 3,000 students from transitional kindergarten through 12th grade.

Before Jones-Kerr resigned, board members of the Roseland School District had met in closed session three times in as many weeks to discuss her performance, according to district agendas.

Krueger said the discussions were related to Jones-Kerr’s contract and whether or not it would be renewed at the end of the school year.

“You have to start talking about these things ahead of time,” Krueger said. Jones-Kerr’s resignation came before any decision had been made, she said. She declined to provide any more information on the closed-door discussions.

Though the board continues to negotiate some terms of Jones-Kerr’s exit, she will continue to be paid the equivalent of her remaining salary, Krueger said.

After 2018, under her current contract, Jones-Kerr was set to receive raises each year above her starting $180,000 salary. Krueger was not able to provide a more precise figure Wednesday on her current salary.

You can reach Staff Writer Kaylee Tornay at 707-521-5250 or kaylee.tornay@pressdemocrat.com. On Twitter @ka_tornay.