Tiffany Morse is no longer superintendent of Ojai Unified School District.
After a closed session meeting March 13, OUSD Board President Rebecca Chandler reported out a unanimous vote by the Board of Trustees approving a separation agreement with Morse.
On March 14, Chandler confirmed with the Ojai Valley News that Morse had also accepted the separation agreement.
Following the March 13 meeting, no statement was made to the public about next steps in terms of filling the superintendent position. However, OUSD Trustee Atticus Reyes (Area 3) posted on his campaign social media account that: “There is already work to establish an interim and next steps will be announced as soon as possible.” Reyes, told the OVN on March 14, that "work" involved the "board president having conversations to figure out the options moving forward." The board has not approved any plan about an interim superintendent, "that has to be done at a public general meeting," Reyes told the Ojai Valley News.
The agreement includes a severance and "vacation payout," said Chandler. After the report out, Chandler said the agreement would be provided in accordance with the California Public Records Act.
On March 14, the OVN submitted a Public Records Act to OUSD for the agreement, which OUSD did not provide to the public at the March 13 meeting. District staff have not responded to the request as of the afternoon of March 14. Chandler has declined to respond.
Monday's special meeting closed session followed a closed session on March 8, agendized as "Public Employee Performance Evaluation, Superintendent, pursuant to Government Code 54957(b)(1)."
On March 9, Morse was out of the office for the day, according to OUSD Executive Director of Fiscal Services Ryan Worsham, who declined to comment further when the OVN visited the district's headquarters on March 9.
Ojai Valley News photo by Kimberly Rivers
Ojai Unified School Board at the March 13, 2023 meeting at Chaparral Auditorium.
Morse hired in 2019
Morse was selected to serve as OUSD superintendent in March 2019 from a group of three other applicants. She had never been a superintendent before and her employment contract included ongoing mentorship the district paid for.
At the time she was hired, she was serving as executive director of Career Education at the Ventura County Office of Education. Her role included the design and operation of Career Technical Education programs across all districts and high schools in Ventura County. In her role at VCOE, she grew the Career Education Center enrollment from 2,500 to 4,000.
Prior to her position at VCOE, she had been a math, science and technology teacher. Morse also worked with the California Department of Education as a division consultant for English Learner and curriculum support.
In 2021, Morse was named Superintendent of the Year for Region 13 by the Association of California School Administrators.
Morse holds a California Association of School Business Officials certificate and a California Crosscultural Language and Academic Certificate.
Tenure at OUSD
Morse began her tenure with a series of meetings called "Engage to Impact." The meetings were well attended.
Shortly thereafter, the district addressed an application to convert Summit Elementary School to a public charter school, following the school board's vote to temporarily close the school following the Thomas Fire. The charter effort was voted down by the OUSD school board, and Morse oversaw the formation of the district’s homeschool K-12 program based at the Summit campus in partnership with education enrichment vendor Rock Tree Sky.
Early in 2020, district administration brought forward a plan to trim the number of classes students could take at Nordhoff High School, citing savings. Parents packed school board meetings to oppose the change just before pandemic shutdowns. Trustees devised a plan that students who wanted a sixth period class could petition for it.
OUSD weathered the pandemic, relying on temporary COVID funding from the state.
Morse was at the helm as the school board approved putting bond Measure K on the ballot in 2020, which Ojai voters passed, allowing the district access to $45 million in funding for updating facilities districtwide.
In 2022, the school board approved spending bond money on pool upgrade for Nordhoff High School.
As normal school activities resumed, budget issues began to come to light.
In 2021, the board extended Morses’ contract through 2025.
She received a pay raise in August on a 4-1 vote, with then OUSD Trustee Kevin Ruf voting no. The board approved a base salary of $185,000, with “step” raises each year, in addition to “the same percentage annual salary increase as is granted to other certificated management employees of the district.”
As financial issues became clearer in late 2022, Morse declined to take the approved step raises this year.
As a new board majority — Trustees Atticus Reyes, Jim Halverson and Phil Moncharsh — was sworn in at a December meeting, trustees prepared to tackle the need for a $1 million budget reduction. That amount quickly grew as the Ventura County Office of Education downgraded the first interim budget report from the board’s "qualified" certification to "negative." The negative certification meant that the VCOE determined the district would not be able to meet its financial obligations for the current fiscal year.
Initial recommendations from the VCOE were that OUSD needed to trim $2.3 million from its budget. While declining enrollment contributed to the issues, and the need to “rightsize” the district, by reducing campuses was recommended, state and county officials also noted deficit spending as a key component of the fiscal problems the district faces. The amount the district needed to trim rose to $3 million to ensure it has a state-required 3% reserve.
Parents in voting Area 2 of the district began a process to recall Board President Chandler, citing her close friendship with Morse.
In the wake of the state and county advising the district of the potential loss of local control due to fiscal insolvency, the school board moved quickly to make budget cuts and close schools.
The plan, to be implemented for the 2023-24 school year, includes expanding the Nordhoff High School campus to include grades 7 and 8.
Meiners Oaks Elementary School will be transitioned to an early childhood campus, including preschool and other services.
Mira Monte Elementary School will continue as a kindergarten to grade 6 campus.
San Antonio LEADS Academy will close.
For the 2023-24 school year, Topa Topa Elementary School will serve as a kindergarten to grade 8 campus. After that is undecided.
Matilija Middle School's future is not yet decided. The board first approved a plan to convert Matilija to a K-8 campus, but that vote was rescinded, putting Matilija in limbo in terms of future plans.
Kimberly has been reporting on a wide range of issues in Ventura County for over a decade including land use, oil and gas, government accountability, open meeting and sunshine laws, and climate change.
