Merced City Schools superintendent after being placed on leave: ‘I will be exonerated’

Trustees with the Merced City School District met Tuesday evening with no mention about their recent action to put Superintendent Richard Alan “Al” Rogers on paid leave — pending an investigation into complaints made against him.

Thus far, district officials haven’t elaborated about what the complaints against Rogers were.

District officials also haven’t said whether that investigation is being done in-house or by an outside firm.

Rogers too has generally been mum when asked about being placed on leave. However, he did send a statement to the Sun-Star on Wednesday, saying “I have to trust the process and I believe I’ll be exonerated and back to work soon.”

Board President Birdi Olivarez-Kidwell said in a media release last week it’s uncertain specifically how much time the investigation will take, though it’s expected to last several weeks.

Teachers too have been tight-lipped about Rogers’s leave.

“At this point as the superintendent’s leave involves a confidential personnel matter, we would be unable to offer much in the way of comments at this time,” wrote Sam Crutchfield, Merced City Teachers Association president, in an email to the Sun-Star.

“We hope that MCSD Board of Education promptly and fully investigates the matter and can come to a resolution quickly. Until the matter is resolved, we look forward to moving ahead with the important task of educating Merced’s children and navigating the delicate, but important task of returning children to the classroom as the world-wide pandemic seems to be drawing to a close.”

Rogers had been on the job for barely a year. He was hired in November 2019 to replace RoseMary Parga Duran who retired after 11 years leading the district.

Deputy Superintendent Doug Collins remains in charge while Rogers is on leave.

Previously, Rogers served as the deputy superintendent for the Sacramento County Office of Education. He had a 3.5 year contract with Merced City School District with an annual salary of $250,000.

Next steps for hybrid learning

As COVID vaccinations ramp-up in Merced County and new infections generally continue on a downward trend, the district is moving forward with plans to move more students into hybrid learning.

Hybrid learning is a combination of in-person classes and remote online classes. In many districts, students are placed into groups that are on a rotating schedule for which days they will be physically in class versus at home.

Preschoolers and Merced School Youth Enrichment students (childcare for children ages 5-12), returned to a hybrid mode of learning Feb. 22. Kindergarten through 2nd grade went back to a hybrid model March 1 and grades 3-6 will return March 15.

The return to in-person classes for seventh and eighth graders remains questionable. The earliest those students can move to a hybrid model is March 29, which depends on whether the county will enter the red tier of the state’s Blueprint for a Safer Economy four-tier reopening system.

The board filed a motion to have seventh and eight grade students return on campus on a hybrid model by March 29 if the county moves into a red tier.

Merced County remains in purple tier — the strictest level of the blueprint, due to the widespread risk level of COVID transmission.

In Merced County the number of daily COVID-19 cases per 100,000 residents continues to hold it back from advancing to the red tier. Daily cases must fall to seven per 100,000 from the county’s current 14.2.

Until then, inside gatherings and indoor operations of businesses like restaurants and gyms will remain off limits.

“What we will do as a staff is we will continue to monitor closely any changes at the state and local level and quickly understand the impact to MCSD and make sure the Board of Education has the most up to date information,” Collins said.

Middle school sports

With conversations stirring about having middle school students return back to campus for hybrid learning, the same question applies to the return of middle school sports.

Jerod Garst, Cruickshank Middle School principal and board member Darrell Cherf said volleyball, soccer, track and field, basketball, cross country, baseball, and softball are now allowed to return according to the California Department of Health.

Garst and Cherf proposed several measures to mitigate the spread of illness, like having athletes, coaches and spectators wear masks and practice safe distancing.

Athletes would also have to regularly sanitize their hands. Plus, parents and guardians would be encouraged to transport their athletes to games.

Board member Jessee Espinosa expressed concern for the return of middle school sports, specifically for basketball and soccer, where he believed distance would be hard to maintain.

Shane Smith, however, is confident the CDC guidelines can be maintained and kids should be able to return to sports. “I think the benefits far outweigh the risks,” he said. “And our kids need to be back. They need some normalcy, they need that interaction. They need that structure from adults.”

Erin Camp, a parent, agreed with Smith. “I will tell you the majority of families are sending their kids into these travel leagues, and going all over to play,” she said.

“By not having sports locally, the only people you are hurting are the families that are economically disadvantaged already, and making it disproportionately to where now they can’t even do sports locally, because they can’t afford to send their kids on these travel teams that these families are doing because there’s no sports locally.”

Smith proposed for the board to have a more detailed plan by the next meeting. Smith also wanted schools that are typically played indoors to begin the end of the school year.

Plus, he wants the district to develop a return to play policy for children who tested positive for COVID-19. Those students would return to sports another season once they recover.

The board agreed to reevaluate the plan.

This story was originally published March 10, 2021 at 5:27 PM.