A really contentious time frame has come to finish in Riverside Faculty District.
The disruption concluded just lately when the Riverside Faculty Board voted to revive suspended Superintendent Chris Rateno, and reverse different actions the earlier board majority authorised final yr.
The board held a particular assembly on the morning of Jan. 6 to revive Rateno to workplace and approve a restoration settlement. An viewers of district employees and group members applauded the vote.
Newly elected board members Joseph Audino and Jimmielee Vires joined returning board members Belinda Grassi and Lori Krenisky within the 4-0 vote. Absent from the assembly was Denise Brewster, the one remaining board member who voted to droop Rateno late final yr.
Krenisky, the brand new board president, learn a press release after the vote.
“The previous a number of weeks have been troublesome and extremely public, and the impression has been actual,” she stated. “Our college students, our employees and our households have felt the pressure of uncertainty and division, and that isn’t how a faculty district ought to function.
“We all know the sturdy feelings we’ve seen are a mirrored image of how deeply folks care about this district.”
Krenisky stated that the board regrets the impression latest actions had on Rateno and his household, and stated that the board intends to behave “in a means that restores stability and respect.”
Krenisky additionally apologized to group members, district workers and others who felt “discouraged or unsettled.” Transferring ahead, she stated that the board will act with good boardsmanship, clear roles, teamwork, improved processes, improved communication and a dedication to hear.
“We wish to shut with what ought to information each resolution we make, our motto, ‘One group pursuing greatness and getting higher every single day,’ ” Krenisky stated.
She additionally thanked interim Superintendent Robert Scott for serving within the function whereas Rateno was suspended.
Rateno thanked the board for the prospect to remain on the district and expressed gratitude to household, associates and colleagues for his or her help. He additionally thanked employees and group members for persevering with to help children, one another and the district.
“The messages, conversations and quiet phrases of encouragement from employees and group members alike had been deeply significant, and so they replicate the power and character of Riverside,” he stated.
Rateno stated that the district must hearken to employees, households, college students and group members to revive belief. He plans to hear and deal with collaboration and consistency within the coming weeks.
“We are going to proceed to set widespread targets, work to revive belief and transfer ahead with care and objective,” he stated. “I’m dedicated to doing this work with humility, respect and deep appreciation for the voices of this group.”
Rateno indicated that he was set to return to work after the morning assembly.
At an earlier assembly on Jan. 2, Grassi apologized to Rateno and his household for “the headache, the heartache” of the latest months.
Rateno stated at the moment that Riverside is particular to him and that there’s nowhere else he would reasonably be.
Beginning on Nov. 26 and working via a lot of December, Brewster and former board members Scott Fishel and Dennis Keeney authorised a sequence of votes to contemplate termination of Rateno’s contract. He was suspended with out pay beginning Dec. 5.
They authorised a doc that accused Rateno of violating open conferences legal guidelines and college board insurance policies, sabotaging the board’s will relating to a undertaking at Buckeye Elementary Faculty, and different expenses.
Rateno denied all expenses. Massive crowds turned out to help him at a sequence of conferences.
The votes got here after Fishel and Keeney misplaced within the Nov. 4 Common Election. They left the board after their phrases ended on the finish of 2025.
The newly inaugurated board additionally used its Jan. 2 assembly to cancel a roofing contract, reject a consulting group’s monetary report and terminate a advertising contract.
All votes had been 4-0, as Brewster was additionally absent from that assembly. The selections that the brand new board reversed had been authorised by Brewster, Fishel and Keeney final yr.
In conclusion, the latest model of the Riverside Faculty Board — with the additions of Audino and Vires — needs to be counseled for performing promptly firstly of 2026 to nullify earlier motion that was aimed toward finally terminating Rateno.
With Rateno reinstated as superintendent, his standing with the district is again to regular, and gained’t be a distraction. The board’s decision of this matter ought to assist to create a extra favorable surroundings within the Riverside Faculty District for college kids, employees, households and different group members.
