The parents of James Madison Elementary School urge our San Leandro community to hold the elected officials of the school board accountable for their decision to remove Principal Gerhard Grotke without cause. Please require the men and women who purport to act in the best interest of our schools to provide an appropriate explanation for their decision to demote the principal of our district’s top performing elementary school and relegate him to a classroom teaching position at an entirely different campus.

The Madison Mustang family has rallied together in support of Mr. Grotke by collecting signatures representing over 400 of our students. Madison Elementary has been a top-performing school for many years, receiving recognition for education equity among our sub groups, and even winning the prestigious California Distinguished School Award in 2018, and we as a school community believe that Madison owes much of its recent successes to the leadership of Principal Grotke.  We have spoken to the School Board, we have made our opposition to their decision clearly known, and now we appeal to you, San Leandro voters, to join with us and demand the School Board to act in the actual best interest of the San Leandro Unified School District.