Edhat Staff
By edhat staff
The California Court of Appeals ruled in favor of the Santa Barbara Unified School District (SBUSD) in a lawsuit filed by former principal Ed Behrens.
Behrens was the principal of San Marcos High School for six years when in 2018 he was removed from his position and reassigned to a junior high classroom teaching position with a salary cut of over $50,000 per year by then-superintendent Cary Matsuoka.
The demotion came after the controversy of a student who posted a threatening message on social media targeting other students. Parents complained they were not promptly informed and their children were put at risk stating administrators mishandled the incident. The Santa Barbara County Sheriff’s Department did not find an immediate threat relating to the video.
The school board held a three-hour community meeting following the demotion with many public commenters praising of Behrens. However, the majority vote of the school board ruled to continue with the demotion, largely being referred to as a “personnel matter.”
Behrens filed a lawsuit arguing that he should be reinstated as principal after being wrongfully removed from his position. The Santa Barbara County Superior Court dismissed the lawsuit against the district and Behrens promptly filed an appeal seeking reinstation to his principal position, back pay as a result of the demotion, and punitive damages.
The appeal alleged a violation of constitutional rights and unlawful retaliation in violations of California’s labor codes. Behrens, with a 27-year teaching career including principal at San Marcos High School from 2011 until 2018, alleged that former SBUSD Superintendent Matsuoka used Behrens as a scapegoat for the district’s mishandling of the incident and then spread false and misleading information about Behrens to the board and to the public.
“In deposition, Matsuoka admitted that strategic public statements he made about Ed were false,” said Leila Noël in 2018, partner in the law firm Cappello & Noël who represented Behrens. “He also carefully controlled the information to the board and Ed about Ed’s performance to lead the board to the predetermined result he wanted: Ed’s removal from SMHS. We are pursuing this case to ensure justice is done.”
On Wednesday, March 24, 2021, the California Court of Appeals ruled in favor of SBUSD. In a 15-page opinion, a three-judge panel upheld the lower court judgement of the Santa Barbara Superior Court and rejected all claims made in the appeal.
“We are thankful that the court has ruled in favor of the district on all fronts in the Behren’s case,” said current SBUSD Superintendent Hilda Maldonado. “We are naturally pleased that this matter has been brought to a successful conclusion.”
“The favorable ruling by the court of appeals reaffirms the right of a school district to reassign a principal without cause,” said Craig Price, the district’s legal counsel.
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The amount of money that school administrators make is absolutely insane, particularly when you include pensions. Absolutely insane and unjustifiable.