Birmingham School Board Ousts Superintendent
(Audio of the entire meeting is below.)
After a heated meeting Thursday night, the Birmingham school board surprised many by voting six to three to fire the district’s Superintendent. Kelley Castlin-Gacutan, often called “Dr. G,” was not at the meeting and had held the position for 14 months.
Rumors were already swirling when board member April Williams moved to terminate Dr. Castlin-Gacutan’s contract. Board member Randall Woodfin spoke against the prevailing mood in the crowd and among his colleagues.
“You know, I never thought that the day would come where I’d be embarrassed to be a member of this body,” he said. “This evening’s action is both unwarranted and reckless. Should my colleagues decide to take this action, I would not in good conscience be able to ask anyone to consider taking this position in the future. The superintendent has been here one year, and we’re going to terminate her without cause.”
That’s exactly what happened soon after as Woodfin, Brian Giattina, and Lyord Watson lost to the majority – April Williams, board president Wardine Alexander, Daagye Hendricks, Sherman Collins Jr., Cheri Gardner, and Sandra Brown.
The superintendent’s critics allege, among other things, thousands of dollars in unauthorized spending and a lack of communication.
“We have made millions of dollars of decisions where we don’t have the return on the investment,” said Hendricks. “Anyone on this board that believes that we can’t move past this [and] find leadership to support our children maybe should not serve … And if we are misappropriating funds, or the money we spend for our students is not reaching the classroom, we are out of order.”
Castlin-Gacutan will be on paid administrative leave for 60 days. Depending on whether she finds work, the district could have to pay her more than $400,000 disbursed monthly over the next two years.
The board voted in assistant superintendent Larry Contri as interim.
To hear the whole 28-minute meeting, listen below:
They’re cured of leprosy. Why do they still live in leprosy colonies?
Leprosy is one of the least contagious diseases around — and perhaps one of the most misunderstood. The colonies are relics of a not-too-distant past when those diagnosed with leprosy were exiled.
This season, ‘The Pitt’ is about what doesn’t happen in one day
The first season of The Pitt was about acute problems. The second is about chronic ones.
Lindsey Vonn is set to ski the Olympic downhill race with a torn ACL. How?
An ACL tear would keep almost any other athlete from competing -- but not Lindsey Vonn, the 41-year-old superstar skier who is determined to cap off an incredible comeback from retirement with one last shot at an Olympic medal.
State Department will delete X posts from before Trump returned to office
The policy change orders the removal of any post made by official State Department accounts on X before President Trump returned to office in 2025.
Trump promised a crypto revolution. So why is bitcoin crashing?
Trump got elected promising to usher in a crypto revolution. More than a year later, bitcoin's price has come tumbling down. What happened?
The CIA World Factbook is dead. Here’s how I came to love it
The Factbook survived the Cold War and became a hit online. It mixed quirky cultural notes and trivia with maps, data, and photos taken by CIA officers. But it was discontinued this week.
