Volume 23 - San Diego Union-Tribune

3576
1 WOULD BE ATTENDING, THE COMBINATION JUST DIDN'T SEEM VERY -- IT
2 WAS VERY UNUSUAL. IT WAS ...
3 Q. TELL US ABOUT WHAT TOOK PLACE. DID YOU ATTEND THIS
4 ADDITIONAL INTERVIEW?
5
A.
YES.
6
Q.
WHO WAS
PRESENT FOR IT FROM THE SCHOOL SIDE?
7
A.
ON THE DISTRICT SIDE THERE WAS THE SUPERINTENDENT,
8 JESUS GANDARA; THE CHIEF OPERATING OFFICER AT THE TIME, RAMON
9 LEYBA; AND A WOMAN, I DON'T RECALL HER NAME. SHE WAS A STAFF
10 ATTORNEY WHO WORKED FOR BONIFACIO GARCIA'S FIRM, THE LEGAL
11 COUNSEL.
12 Q. WAS THAT MS. BANUELOS, AEROBEL BANUELOS; DO YOU RECALL?
13 A. AEROBEL, THAT'S WHO IT WAS, YES. AND BOTH AEROBEL AND
14 RAMON LEYBA HAPPENED TO BE ON THEY WERE ON THE PANEL OF EIGHT
15 THAT RANKED US FIRST. JUST THOUGHT I'D POINT THAT OUT.
16 Q. AND IN YOUR EXPERIENCE, IS IT NORMAL TO HAVE A
17 SUPERINTENDENT ON THE INTERVIEW PANEL?
18 A. OVER THE COURSE OF THE LAST DECADE OF WORKING ON THESE
19 TYPES OF PROGRAMS, THE SUPERINTENDENT IS -- OCCASIONALLY
20 PARTICIPATES IN A PANEL, BUT I'VE NEVER SEEN IT WHERE THEY WERE
21 PART OF A NARROWER PANEL. I'VE SEEN A SUPERINTENDENT ON A PANEL
22 OF 12 PEOPLE AND THE SUPERINTENDENT HAPPENS TO BE AMONG THOSE IN
23 ATTENDANCE. I SAW THAT AT AN INTERVIEW AT PALO ALTO UNIFIED
24 SCHOOL DISTRICT AND A FEW OTHERS, BUT I'VE NEVER SEEN A
25 SECOND-PHASE INTERVIEW WITH A SUPERINTENDENT.
26 Q. IN TERMS OF THE INTERVIEW ITSELF, FROM THE SCHOOL SIDE,
27 WHO WAS THE ONE CONTROLLING OR LEADING THE INTERVIEW?
28 A. ONE HUNDRED PERCENT OF WHAT WAS COMING FROM THE