After years of continual changes in the leadership of Programs for Exceptional Children (PEC), many of which were imposed without concern for the opinions and experiences of our Special Education community, we have come to see district leadership as sorely lacking an understanding of the devastating impact that those changes can have on our students and on the staff that support them. Through the years, we have repeatedly been the subject of unilaterally imposed leadership resulting in the further loss of crucial PEC management staff and the haphazard restructuring that always follows it. We see the current “retirement” of Sheilagh Andujar as yet another moment when district leadership imposes a change without regard to the extremely destabilizing and demoralizing impact to our students and community. Soon after her hire, the Special Education community heard Ms. Andujar clearly express that she was “here for the long haul” and nothing in our monthly and other collaborations with her gave any indication of her intention to “retire.” On the contrary, we were continually apprised of the time frame of her work to help develop the basic systems that PEC desperately needs and to fill numerous vacancies in a very challenging hiring environment. She always spoke of herself as part of this ongoing and future work, knowing full well the amount of time, effort, and resources that would be required. Issued from the office of the Superintendent, nothing in the letter that announced her “retirement” reflected Ms. Andujar’s voice, her sense of mission, or the goals that she had clearly set for Special Education. The letter did not succeed in convincing us that leaving the leadership of PEC was Ms. Andujar’s choice. Simply put, it is our conviction that Ms. Sheilagh Andujar does not leave her position voluntarily. We are also convinced that her departure would have an immeasurably negative impact on the already vulnerable structures that support Special Education students. It is our call to the current OUSD administration that it retain the leadership of Ms. Andujar and that it provide her with the quality of support that would facilitate her work of implementing the important reforms already outlined in the Special Education Strategic Plan. That plan and her leadership were the product of our participation as a community. She is one of our own, the kind of empathetic and thoughtful leader that understands and reflects the OUSD community. It will be difficult to convince the Special Education community, especially in light of our experiences during the past decade, that a better positioned and more deeply rooted candidate could be found to continue the work of improving our Special Education programs. Ms. Sheilagh Andujar must remain as Deputy Chief of OUSD Programs for Exceptional Children to continue her current work in full collaboration with the Special Education Community and all of OUSD.

Letter from the Superintendent announcing Deputy Chief Andujar's retirement:

https://drive.google.com/a/ousd.us/file/d/0B3Cgqpm-4mPHeFdZNW5qbjdNRWM/view

Articles of interest:

http://m.eastbayexpress.com/oakland/fighting-for-special-education-resources-in-oakland/Content?oid=4463824​

http://www.contracostatimes.com/ci_23589114/high-hopes-new-leader-sheilagh-andujar-who-started​

http://www.contracostatimes.com/ci_23362134/oakland-unifieds-special-education-director-leave-june-30