San Ramon Schools Superintendent Retained Amidst Mannequin Scandal

SAN RAMON, CA —John Malloy will continue in his role as superintendent of the San Ramon Valley Unified School district through July 2025, despite a recent scandal, the district's board ruled last week.

The board of education at a June 14 meeting unanimously approved a one-year extension of Malloy’s contract, which expires July 31, 2024.

“Only term of contract is adjusted here. All other terms and conditions of the superintendent's employment agreement including his salary will remain the same,” Assistant Superintendent Keith Rogenski said.

District spokeswoman Ilana Israel Samuels said the vote to continue the contract was part of normal board business and not related to the scandal.

Responses during the public comment portion largely surrounded the district's equity program and the recent mannequin head scandal involving a stunt team with the cheer team at California High School.

“I am shocked, disheartened, very concerned that other teachers allowed students and the classroom to be used in somewhat of a mob setting where the cheer students felt targeted,” a teacher said.

“Justice is blind," she said. "We base decisions on facts.” That was met with a round of applause from some of the speakers.

Referring to Malloy’s response to the mannequin situation, another person said “he himself caused much or most of the harm with his misleading representation of the original social media post, its origin, its targets and its ultimate effect. Once again, shame on you.”

Rogenski stressed the board’s opinion on the importance of “consistency” and “stability” in district-level leadership. Other board members also spoke in favor of Malloy following the public comment.

“We should be very pleased with the superintendent we have, and I’m very pleased to be able to vote to support an extension of his contract beyond the current term,” Ken Mintz said.

San Francisco-based Dhillon Law Group held a news conference in front of the school district in Danville on June 2 following accusations that the team posed with a Black mannequin head.

The group announced a cease and desist letter and demanded an investigation and removal of Malloy. It claimed a disgruntled mother of an athlete who didn't make the team fabricated a social media post accusing the team of racists acts.

"Superintendent Malloy's choice to bully and harass blameless students is despicable. He knowingly advanced an utterly false narrative on the backs of innocents to bask in his ten minutes in the spotlight," the firm said in the news release.

In response to Patch's question about how the district reacted, Israel Samuels released the following statement.

“Once we saw the reach of the initial post by the Black Bay Area, verified facts with district leaders and coaching staff, and heard from a multitude of community members of the harm felt, and realized media was reaching out, we sent the initial email to the community. We met with students who felt harmed. We met with staff and community who wished to offer their perspectives. We met with students/families of the Cheer/Stunt team. We now are focused on our equity plan moving forward."

The girls on the stunt team received threats and their reputations were tainted, the firm said in a news release.

Israel Samuels said information shared from the district coaching staff concluded the stunt team used the unofficial mascot and not the sideline cheer team.

“Our understanding is that the reference to 7 Black students includes all teams/groups - junior varsity, varsity cheer, stunt, etc.” she said.

The firm claimed the photo of the mannequin head was altered to look darker than the one the team uses, purchased on Amazon. The district could not confirm this.

“We have not been provided with any information or evidence that any photo was falsified. We have asked those who have shared this information to provide us with details so we can continue with fact finding on that matter, but nothing has been shared with us,” Israel Samuels said. “Regardless, we are not focusing on the color shade of the mascot. There are staff, students, families and those outside the SRVUSD community who told us the mascot was harmful and hurtful to them, and that they need more. It is not our role to judge their perspective, but instead to listen and to educate so that harm does not continue.”

Patch has not heard back from the Dhillon Law Group regarding our follow up questions. We will update this story when we do.