I am truly elated to see Mr. Panietz leave. I am only sorry that it did not happen sooner- before his legacy of inept leadership and poor decisions left so much destruction in its path. Alas, there have been so many red flags. Since Mr. Panietz became superintendent MCUSD has lost a tremendous number of its seasoned administrative staff. The district was forced to say goodbye to Paul Jacobs, Rock Carlson, Tom Brownell and David Marshall. (Did Mr. Panietz have an alpha male complex?) Mary Brownell soon left the district to follow her husband. Scott Seymour (former MCHS VP) and Brian Goodbar (MES Principal) voluntarily left the insanity to pursue less stressful careers. Val Fall, Stella Pizelo and Delene Pena sought a quick exit through retirement. How many accounting officials has the district been through with Mr. Panietz? So many red flags. Such sad losses of invaluable members of the school district. Mr. Panietz left the school district for approximately 3 months of "medical leave". Shouldn't this have thrown-up red flags to the public that something might be "wrong" with the then new superintendent? Mr. Panietz worked diligently to close Mariposa's only middle school. The only problem was he never even obtained an economic feasibility study. He was closing MMS because he "wanted to." He had no idea whatsoever how much it would cost to move the middle school and reestablish the school at an existing school site (Woodland). He had no idea how impacted and poorly functioning Woodland's existing septic system was until a licensed engineer volunteered his services to inform the school board that the move would cost millions of dollars and was not even feasible due to Woodland's already stressed septic system and leech field. (It is extremely worrisome that the majority of the school board did not ask Mr. Panietz for this information on its own.) This last school year, an inordinate number of school personnel were pink slipped. These members of our community and their families waited until well into August to learn if they would have a job teaching our children. Families waited to see how many teachers would be reinstated in the hopes of discovering how crowded their children's classrooms would be. Since Mr. Panietz knew he had an "extra million dollars" that was not divulged, one has to wonder if so many people had to be pink slipped? Do our children's classrooms really need to be so crowded? Since the 2008 / 2009 budget ended in the black and their was an extra million dollars, one would think not. Did anyone notice that Balbir, the director of business services, was quickly "removed" when she tried to bring this information forward to the public. The red flags continued... This is only the tip of the iceberg. The list of Mr. Panietz's negligent and damaging behavior could fill a book. I pray that the Grand Jury investigates Mr. Panietz's activity and holds him accountable even when he is back in his beloved Sonora.

Ouch. Does this district have any leadership stability? Seems like there sure are a lot of new people in key positions around. If the district isn't careful, a common goal/direction to lead the staff could be quickly muddled and lost. Student test scores could quickly follow.

Let's be clear. No, Randy is not responsible for the state's financial woes and certainly can't be blamed for cutting important programs such as music as this is a statewide problem. However, he is responsible for the loss of some of our best school administrators, creating an atmosphere of fear and distrust as well as gross mismanagement of our district funds.

The word is "Integrity" Websters dictionary says, Uprightness of character, honesty, the condition quality or state of being complete or undivided. Moral soundness, honesty freedom from every biasing or corrupting influence or motive. If integrity has an opposite, perhaps it is corruption-the getting away with things we know to be wrong.

Here's a News Flash: A committee composed of parents, teachers and others reviewed the qualified applicants for Superintendent and Randy Panietz was chosen by them as one of the final three, which then went to the Board to interview. I am sure a similar process will be followed this time around. The comment about Randy eliminating music at the elementary schools is hilarious- do you think he eliminated music at all the other schools in California too? Or, perhaps, that was a decision other districts made also as a result of budget cuts? Our problems will not go away simply by getting a new Superintendent. We still have less money and are losing more! One of the best things we CAN do for this district is cap benefits and eliminate an uncontrollable cost. Maybe the next Superintendent will be able to accomplish that task.

Let's hope the Board will conduct a careful and far reaching search in seeking a new superintendent. Community, staff and student input is vital. By starting this process early we'll have a better pool of applicants to choose from. We should not have to "settle"!

Hallelujah!!!! Thanks Heavens, now can we hire someone who knows how to do the job!!! Panietz has got to be the worst MCUSD Superintendent ever. I remember at first, everyone was ok with him taking over for Superintendent Holland. Then came the madness with Principal Carlson leaving right before school started in Fall 2008. What made it even worse was this NUT-CASE of a "Superintendent" eliminating the elementary music program, & other necessities that our children need for a good education. I agree, we need a Superintendent who knows what to do, & to do it with nods of approval from not just the students, but from the entire county as well.

Now we get to pay his pension for the next 30 years which he "earned" with his incompetence and being a warm body at the district office. Show up, screw up and get lifetime benefits for life. where can i sign up?

A collective sigh of relief has risen over the district. It is amazing how one little phrase, "I'm retiring", spoken by one person, Randy Panietz, can change the mood of a whole school district from hopeless to exuberant.

It's about time and let's get someone in there that knows what he/she is doing!!!!

Please don't make this years graduation all about Randy again. Don't forget the graduation is for the kids and there families.

I wonder how much money he'll get paid to leave.