As concerned community members of the Mountain View Whisman School District (MVWSD), we have witnessed a troubling decline in the condition of our schools under the leadership of Superintendent Ayinde Rudolph. 

Dr. Rudolph's nine-year tenure has been characterized by many crises and controversies, often resulting from his authoritarian management style and unilateral decision making.   

Additionally, information has emerged about MASSIVE FISCAL MISMANAGEMENT in the district, including MILLIONS of dollars of spending on frivolous perks such as meditation classes and private leadership coaching - with large sums of money being paid to former colleagues and mentors of Dr. Rudolph.  

10/2/24 update:  MVWSD has just been referred to a state agency (FCMAT) for an "Extraordinary Audit" - an audit which is only considered when there is a reasonable possibility of "... fraud, misappropriation of funds, and/or illegal fiscal practices."

At the end of this petition, we will list the financial mismanagement issues which are known to-date, as well as the many controversies and crises that characterize Dr. Rudolph's tenure at MVWSD.

Despite repeated pleas from the community for meaningful dialogue and collaboration, Dr. Rudolph consistently chooses to blindside us with radical initiatives that lack adequate justification and disregard community input.  His response to dissent involves ignoring opposing viewpoints and disregarding overwhelming community opposition. His justifications often involve omission, distortion, or misrepresentation of crucial facts and data presented to the school board and community.

Dr. Rudolph's lack of transparency and disdain for community engagement has eroded our trust in the district, and left us feeling ignored and disconnected from decisions that affect our children's education and well-being.

Of particular concern is the decline of Graham Middle School, which was once thriving under the exemplary leadership of Principal Kim Thompson. After Dr. Rudolph decided to dismiss Principal Thompson in 2018, Graham became plagued by violence, substance abuse, bullying, and a lack of administrative oversight.  Multiple reports of bullying sent to the principal and Dr. Rudolph have been dismissed or swept aside.  The school became a revolving door for teachers and administrators, who are often dismissed or replaced with no explanation whatsoever.

Our children deserve better than this chaotic and untrustworthy leadership style that only intensifies existing problems rather than solving them.

We call on the MVWSD Board of Trustees to take action now - remove Dr. Ayinde Rudolph from his position as superintendent immediately.

Please sign this petition - and leave a comment - if you agree that we need new leadership to restore safety, trust and quality education in our schools.

p.s.  For your signature to count, please ensure your name, town and zip code are correctly entered.  (Change.org pre-populates the town/zip with random info.)

p.p.s.    Don't forget to leave a Comment ("Reason for Signing") with your signature.  Share any reasons or incidents related to Dr. Rudolph that support this petition.  Thanks!

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Below is a list of the fiscal management issues that have emerged so far.  We will update this list as new information emerges.

The Superintendent has initiated and approved the following expenses:

• $315,150 to Blue Violet Energy for "guided meditation" sessions for himself and senior staff
• $270,000 to ALULA for "Executive coaching for District leaders"
• $370,000 to the Dr. Rudolph's mentor and former boss, Peter Gorman (for more "leadership coaching")
• $1,069,479 to ILO Group, a firm run by a former associate of Dr. Rudolph, for additional "Executive Coaching" 
• $566,000 to a Infinity Systems for "Organizational Alignment"

It seems that some of these "leadership coaching" companies are run by former colleagues of Dr. Rudolph.

The full report of questionable expenses uncovered by parents can be found here.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Below is a list of controversies and crises during Dr. Rudolph's 9-year tenure.

• Deterioration of Graham Middle School environment (2018-24)
  When Dr. Rudolph took office, Graham Middle School was a positive, safe and welcoming environment.  After the unexplained dismissal of Kim Thompson in 2018, the environment at Graham deteriorated.  Fights, violence, bullying, absenteeism, substance abuse, and vandalism became rampant.  Between 2018-23, the administration at Graham was a revolving door of administrators, most of who were unable to handle the chaotic conditions.  Good teachers left in droves.  (After years of deterioration at Graham, there is some recent good news: as of Fall 2024, Graham is recovering under the capable leadership of the new principal Sebastian Benavidez and his strong leadership team.)
  
  
• Middle School Bell Schedule Change (2024) 
  In March 2024, Dr. Rudolph announced a plan to alter the middle school schedule, reducing it from 8 periods to 7. This proposal involved cutting elective classes, introducing longer block periods, and dedicating time to "social emotional learning." The proposal was met with widespread opposition from parents and students.  Despite claims of teacher support and the need for increased instructional time in core subjects, Dr. Rudolph failed to disclose that the change was tied to teacher salary negotiations and a $1.2M budget cut, leading to the loss of 8 middle school teachers and larger class sizes. When pressed by the Board, Dr. Rudolph conducted a biased parent survey and misrepresented the results from a teacher survey.  Following strong community backlash, Dr. Rudolph withdrew the proposal, but criticized the community for its response, rather than acknowledging his failure to engage in meaningful dialogue throughout the process.
   
• Teach To One debacle (2016-17)
  In Fall of 2016, Dr. Rudolph rolled out an untested digital math program "Teach To One (TTO)" to replace the 6th grade math curriculum.  No small-scale pilot testing of the program had been done.  Additionally, the $478K expense had not been approved by the board, and was concealed in a "consent agenda" of the board meeting.  Dr. Rudolph initially asserted that Google would fund the program, but when Google declined, he launched the program anyway without informing the board.   The TTO software was a disaster, riddled with bugs and flaws that made it largely ineffective.  Parent and student complaints about TTO's bugs flooded Rudolph's office, yet he withheld this information from the board and the public.  After widespread parent outcry, Rudolph terminated TTO in January 2017, after a full half year lost to ineffective math education.  The failure of TTO costed taxpayers around $275K.  Rudolph attributed the failure to "mixed test results," while taking no responsibility for his role in failing to conduct a proper pilot, rolling out the program without a proper contract, failing to disclose the funding loss from Google, failing to disclose the flaws in the program, and failing to obtain fiscal authorization until the program was already several months into its implementation.
  
  
• Sudden dismissal of four principals (2018)
  In March 2018, Dr. Rudolph again blindsided the school community by suddenly firing 4 principals, including beloved principals Kim Thompson (Graham) and Steve Chesley (Landels).  Thompson was widely credited for turning Graham from an "underperforming, uncaring place to a wonderful high-achieving school," and Chesley was described by parents as a "exceptional leader and educator who is loved by students and parents alike."   (In 2015, Graham was awarded the prestigious "Project Cornerstone - Caring Climate School" award.)  Parents were shocked and upset by the dismissal, but the district refused to give any reason for the firing.   Petitions to reinstate Chesley and Thompson garnered over 500 and 1000 signatures respectively, but Dr. Rudolph refused to budge or offer any reasonable explanation for the dismissals.  Between 2018-2021, Graham went through 4 different principals.  Conditions at Graham have greatly deteriorated since Kim Thompson's dismissal.
   
• Fences, locks, gates, surveillance cameras:  turning our schools into prisons (2020-24)
  Starting in 2020, the district has aggressively implemented increasingly draconian security measures, in spite of widespread community opposition.    Most of the 11 school yards are now surrounded by 6-foot chain-link fencing, with only a few ingress and egress points to school yards.  Every door at every school will be outfitted with electronic locks, that can be centrally controlled at the push of a button.  Surveillance cameras were deployed under the premise of thwarting vandalism.  The cost of all these security "upgrades" goes into the tens of MILLIONS, with the door locks alone costing $12M.   (Simultaneously, Dr. Rudolph tried to cut 8 teachers under the premise that we have a $1.2M budget shortfall!)  Our schools now resemble prisons rather than schools, and there is no demonstrable evidence that they were any safer than before.
  
  
• Monta Loma Fencing fiasco (2020-24)
  In the fall of 2020, the district announced a plan to erect 6-foot fences around the school fields, including Monta Loma Park which was the only green space accessible for local residents.  The community had not been consulted and were told that construction would begin in 3 weeks.  The plan created an uproar in the community, with 85% of the 1000 member neighborhood opposed.  Dr. Rudolph and the school board insisted from the beginning that the fencing plan is non-negotiable and that it will happen regardless of what comes from community meetings.  This has turned into a 4-year battle where Dr. Rudolph's actions have alienated not only the Monta Loma neighborhood residents but also damaged the relationship between MVWSD and the City of Mountain View.
  
  

•  Destroying the relationship with the City of Mountain View (2023-24)
  MVWSD and the City of Mountain View have historically had a collaborative and productive relationship - until Dr. Rudolph arrived.  Dr. Rudolph's strong-arm negotiation tactics with the City of Mountain View have led to two major ruptures in long-standing agreements that benefited both city residents and the school district.

  In the first instance, Dr. Rudolph's hardball negotiation tactics led to the termination of a six-decade partnership between MVWSD and the City on joint operation of campus parks and fields.  His unproductive actions include removing long-standing City of MV signs from school fields and replacing them with MVWSD signs.

  In the second instance, Dr. Rudolph decided the City of Mountain View was not sharing enough tax revenue from the Shoreline district with MVWSD, and rather than negotiate in good faith, created flyers and a website to convince the public that the City was being unfair.  His actions again led to a complete breakdown of negotiations with the City.  As a result of his stubborn refusal to accept the City's offer, MVWSD is facing a loss of $6.5M of expected revenue for 2024-25.    Rather than accept the $6.5M that is freely available,  Dr. Rudolph is threatening further staff and service cuts for 2024-25 and beyond.
  
  

• Save Cooper Park (2018)
  In January 2018, the school district announced a possible plan to develop 9.5 acres of Cooper Park into a housing development for teachers, with 118 housing units plus a large parking lot.  This was yet another plan that was prepared without community input and shocked and outraged residents of the neighborhood.   The divisive proposal continued to cause undue stress to the community until May 2019, when the district decided to develop teacher housing elsewhere.

We've had enough chaos in our schools over the past 9 years.  It's time for a change.