New Interim Superintendent Selected In Pleasanton

PLEASANTON, CA — The Pleasanton Unified Board of Trustees voted unanimously to appoint Maurice Ghysels as interim superintendent at their June 13 meeting. Ghysels will begin on July 1 and serve until June 30, 2025, or until the board selects a permanent superintendent, the district said.

Ghysels graduated from PUSD schools. He graduated from Amador Valley High School, and started his career teaching there. He has served in a number of educational leadership roles, including over 10 years as the superintendent in Mountain View and Menlo Park. He has also taught as an instructor and adjunct professor at a number of institutions, including Loyola Marymount University, Pepperdine University, and the Santa Clara County Office of Education’s Leaders in Educational Administration Program. For the past four years, he has run the Ghysels Group, an educational consulting firm.

Ghysels holds a doctorate in educational leadership from the University of San Francisco.

“I am proud to return to the Pleasanton community and look forward to building relationships and learning from our staff, students and community partners as the District prepares to make important decisions related to budget and identifying a Superintendent,” Ghysels said in a statement.

“We are thrilled to have Dr. Ghysels join the outstanding team that has been built at PUSD in this interim role. Dr. Ghysels brings a wealth of experience and unique perspective as a leader within public schools as well as an expert in advising educational leaders,” Board President Mary Jo Carreon said in a statement. “We look forward to benefiting from his knowledge and leadership as the Board prepares to work toward identifying a permanent Superintendent next year.”

Ghysels’ appointment has not been without controversy. Outgoing Superintendent David Haglund created a succession plan that named Deputy Superintendent Ed Diolazo as his replacement, which the board did not honor. As a result, Haglund opted to leave his post on June 30, rather than Aug. 1.

“When the board determined to go a different direction than outlined in the succession plan, my involvement became less critical given that a retired superintendent in an interim role would be able to coordinate the needed activities with the support of the executive team,” Haglund told Pleasanton Weekly.

Numerous comments in a Nextdoor thread indicated support for both Haglund and Diolazo as involved and caring members of the community who have served the district for many years and know it well.

While superintendent of the Mountain View Whisman School District, Ghysels confirmed that he was involved in a personal relationship with the principal of an elementary school, according to reports in the Mountain View Voice and Mercury News. Ghysels and the principal told the board about the relationship, and the reporting structure was changed as a result. While a board member said that Ghysels behaved “appropriately,” the president of the local teachers’ union called Ghysels’ actions a “breach of trust,” according to The Mercury News.

He left the district soon after, though he denied that this was a result of his relationship. Menlo Park City School District said at the time that they conducted “extensive on-site interviews” at Mountain View Whisman and the county office of education. “Individuals consistently described Dr. Ghysels as a dynamic and collaborative leader who always puts the needs of students first,” the district website said at the time.

Patch reached out to the Pleasanton Unified School District for comment but has not heard back.