Carmel Unified School District board votes to appoint Sharon Ofek as new superintendent.

Sharon Ofek has been in the top administrative leadership position in Carmel Unified School District since April 1, 2023. Nearly 10 months later, the CUSD board of trustees voted 4-1 to appoint her to the role of superintendent, making it official. 

Before Ofek joined CUSD as deputy superintendent in 2022, she served as associate superintendent of education services from 2016-22 at Palo Alto Unified School District.

"I am excited about the opportunity to contribute to the growth and success of students in our district and to continue to work collaboratively with the board and all stakeholders to fulfill our shared vision for the District,” Ofek said in a statement. “I am confident that with our combined efforts, we can create a safe and welcoming educational environment that promotes academic excellence and responsible citizenship.”

When former CUSD superintendent Ted Knight was placed on leave, she was appointed as acting superintendent. When Knight then resigned last August, she was appointed as interim superintendent. 

Since then, a new school year has started, and new principals have taken over at Carmel High School and Carmel River Elementary School. Students have completed the entire fall semester and started the spring semester. And political turmoil continues at the CUSD board level. 

The board meeting on Wednesday, Jan. 24, was no exception. 

Many community members spoke up during the public comment period to offer criticism of the board's leadership, including a former board member, Rita Patel, who participated in two previous superintendent searches. 

She called upon the board not to make an appointment but instead to hire a recruitment firm and conduct an extensive search. "We leveled the playing field for all candidates," Patel said. "I believe you need to conduct an open, and transparent search."

The board previously discussed appointing Ofek to the position without conducting a recruitment process; that led to community outcry. The board indicated they would solicit community input before advancing the process, and conducted a survey to get feedback on leadership traits the CUSD stakeholder would like to see. That, President Jason Remynse said in a statement, led them back to Ofek as the next superintendent.

"I had high hopes for your intentions for your superintendent search," Patel says. "I thought you were actually going to do [a recruitment process with public meetings]. Was everything for show? Was there no intention of doing that?

"You have already paid out two superintendents, and I think it would be incredibly irresponsible of you to award a new multi-year contract." 

Ofek is CUSD's seventh superintendent since 2015, when Marvin Biasotti's five-year term ended. Next came Scott Laurence, recruited by a search firm, who held the job for one year before his contract was terminated early after he went on medical leave (and also received a payment upon departure, of $100,000, about five months of salary); then interim superintendent Karen Henricks for one-and-a-half years; then Barbara Dill-Varga, also recruited by a search firm, who held the job for three years, from July 2017-June 2020, and agreed to resign two years before the end of her contract. Trisha Dellis served as a temporary interim before Knight was hired in 2020. He resigned before his contract ended with a $770,000 payout and agreed to drop all claims against the district.

Ofek's contract will be placed on a future public agenda for board approval.

The appointment was discussed on Wednesday in closed session, and approved by the board 4-1, with Anne-Marie Rosen dissenting. Rosen has been outwardly critical of Ofek and her board colleagues in recent months (and was one of two votes against approving Knight's departure agreement).  

At a board meeting in November, Rosen said, "I've been hearing a lot of conspiracy theories," then proceeded to share the conspiracy theories, including about Ofek. 

Despite calls for unity on the board, Rosen has consistently called attention to dysfunction. "I can talk about roses and rainbows and unicorns all day long, that’s not going to address the problems," she said on Jan. 24. "I am concerned about the legitimacy of our public school institution."

Meanwhile, CUSD also faces a lawsuit alleging the $770,000 payout to Knight upon his resignation was illegal.