Placentia-Yorba Linda Unified board places Superintendent Alex Cherniss on leave

A month after Placentia-Yorba Linda Unified’s school board made it more difficult to fire the superintendent, they voted to place him on leave.

Along with Superintendent Alex Cherniss — who has been the district’s superintendent for over a year — the board also voted unanimously during closed session of the special meeting on Thursday, Dec. 19 to place six other employees on paid administrative leave, including Deputy Superintendent Issaic Gates, an assistant superintendent, two executive directors, a director and a principal.

The board appointed Renne Gray, an assistant superintendent, to serve as the district’s interim superintendent. Gray has worked with the district for nearly 11 years and served as an assistant superintendent for the past year.

The announcement was made by recently appointed Board President Marilyn Anderson. She was voted in as the PYLUSD’s board president earlier this week and called for Thursday’s special meeting.

Anderson did not explain why Cherniss and the other employees were placed on leave during the nearly five-hour-long meeting. But in a letter sent to district personnel Friday, she said the seven administrators were placed on paid leave “pending the completion of an internal review.”

“We understand that this decision may raise questions and concerns, and we want to assure you that the Board is united in its commitment to ensuring a fair and thorough process, we are working collaboratively with Mrs. Gray and district staff to ensure that services and support for our students and staff are not impacted,” Anderson said.

She said in the board is not able to share additional information due to employee confidentiality protocols.

Cherniss, who had his contract extended to June 2028 over the summer, said in an email Friday that the decision to place him and the six other employees on leave right before the holidays is “mind-boggling.”

He said he filed a hostile work environment claim against Anderson with the district’s human resources department earlier this week. After his claim was filed, he said Anderson called for the special board meeting to vote on his future with the district. He provided a copy of his email informing board members of the complaint but did not share the complaint itself or comment on the nature of his allegations.

“I’ve done nothing wrong and wasting taxpayer money that should go to kids on this circus is ridiculous,” Cherniss said. “For Marilyn Anderson to call a public meeting for my termination an hour after my filing of a claim against her is retaliatory and will be dealt with through legal channels.”

At a November meeting, the board voted in a split decision to amend Cherniss’ contract by adding a supermajority clause. This means that four out of the five board members would need to agree to fire him.

The controversial decision to increase the voting threshold also applied to the deputy and assistant superintendents. Previously, the PYLUSD board only needed a simple majority (three votes) to fire them. Many parents and two other board members, Anderson and Carrie Buck, expressed concerns about the decision.

Trustees Leandra Blades and Todd Frazier, who have publicly voiced support for Cherniss, voted in favor of the supermajority clause in November but were part of the unanimous vote to suspend him Thursday night.

Blades said Friday that she feels like she didn’t have all the information necessary before Thursday’s meeting.

“The information presented in closed session is not accessible before the meeting, and I made the best decision I could with the information I had,” Blades said.

“Due to broken protocols, it is my opinion Marilyn Anderson tied the board’s hands and forced a vote from our board,” Blades said. “I have the utmost respect for the seven administrators put on administrative leave and believe an injustice was done to them by Marilyn Anderson’s haste to retaliate against our superintendent.”

Anderson did not reply to requests for comment on Friday about Cherniss’ complaint or Blades’ allegations.

Cherniss has worked with the district since May 2023 as its superintendent. He previously served as the superintendent of the Palos Verdes Peninsula Unified School District for five years and was a superintendent of the San Marino Unified School District.

At PYLUSD, he backed the district’s controversial athletics-based school program, the Universal Sports Institute. The program has generated mixed reactions from parents, with many concerned about how much it will cost the district and whether or not it will exclude certain students.

Newly elected Trustee, Tricia Quintero was also part of the unanimous vote Thursday night.

After Quintero joined the board and replaced outgoing Trustee Shawn Youngblood of Area 1, the board majority flipped. During the public comment portion of the meeting, people requested that Quintero abstain from Thursday night’s vote as this was her only second board meeting.

Neither Buck, Frazier or Quintero responded to requests directly for comment Friday. A spokesperson for the district, Lorely Meza, said the board members would not comment at this time.

This story has been updated.