Monterey County superintendent of schools gets sworn in for third term

Monterey County District Attorney Dean Flippo and Nancy Kotowski's Pebble Beach neighbor administered the oath of office for her third term during a Jan. 7 ceremony at the Monterey County Office of Education.

Other personalities in attendance were Sylvia Panetta, co-director of the Leon and Sylvia Panetta Institute for Public Policy, Mary Claypool, President of the Monterey County Board of Education, and former superintendent of California schools Jack O'Connell.

Kotowski was first elected Monterey County Superintendent of Schools in 2006. The late Donna Alonso-Vaughn ran against her in 2010, but Kotowski faced no contenders in the 2014 election. Which was fascinating, given the fact that Kotowski is widely disliked by union members, and the persistent rumors about her management style which has driven out key members of her staff recently. And you all know, Scuttlebutt does not lie.

It's also fascinating given the headlines we've seen this year about the low educational attainment seen in Monterey County schools. You would think somebody would try to hold her accountable, right? Of course, defeating the odds of a low-income, English learner community is a challenge that probably nobody wants to take on.

Here's another thing that's puzzling. In a majority-Latino community, with a super-majority of Latino children in schools, and a particularly active Latino political establishment, no one in the Latino community decided to challenge her? How's that for a mystery? 

Nancy Kotowski receives nod from Monterey business community

Nancy Kotowski has been named the 2013 Ruth Vreeland Memorial Public Official of the Year Award by the Monterey Peninsula Chamber of Commerce.

The Ruth Vreeland Memorial Public Official Award will be presented at MPCC’s 106th Annual Awards Dinner on March 15 at the Monterey Marriott. The award honors the legacy of public service exemplified by Ruth Marianne Vreeland, a devoted and admired teacher in the Monterey Peninsula Unified School District for over 40 years, who was also an enthusiastic civic leader – serving on the Monterey City Council for 21 years and as a volunteer on countless community and professional organizations throughout her adult life.

For more information on how to attend the party, call 648-5350 or click here.

Nancy Kotowski to present audit results to MPUSD

Monterey County Superintendent of Schools Nancy Kotowski was asked to review procedures at the Monterey Peninsula Unified School District in the wake of changes made to the transcripts of 93 high school students.

She's scheduled to present her findings tomorrow during the regular meeting of the board of trustees.

The big question is: will there be fireworks?

I suspect there's somebody out there who wants to make one administrator in particular the scapegoat. I wonder if the effort will be successful.

An invite went out to all media outlets to attend the report Tuesday night. If you want to be part of the fun, come join us! At 7 p.m. at the Instructional Materials Center, 540 Canyon del Rey, Del Rey Oaks.

And there's lots of other fascinating stuff on the agenda. Like the denial of yet another charter school. Or another conversation on the future of MAOS.

So much fun for just one night. You really shouldn't miss it. 

Monterey County Superintendent of Schools Nancy Kotowski will seek re-election

And by now, the only person who was heavily rumored to be considering making a run against her, has largely fizzled.

I won't say the name, because you never know. Hedging my bets here.

If nobody challenges Kotowski, it will definitely be no fun.

Even if anybody decides to take her on, she has so much name recognition by now it'll be difficult to defeat her. Which would make for a dull race. Unless it's made spicy for other reasons.

But if anybody's interested, last day to file's March 7.

Keep me posted.