Eyewitness News confirms John Deasy is set to resign soon as Los Angeles Unified School District superintendent after just two years on the job.
Mike Trujillo, spokesman for LAUSD Board President Richard Vladovic, confirms that Deasy told the board on Thursday he plans to step down in February.
Deasy started his tenure in 2011 after Ramon Cortines retired. He's known for his extraordinary energy, actively visiting campuses and pushing a reform minded agenda.
"You can't spend enough to ensure the safety of a child, end of story," Deasy had said.
But the ambitious rollout of the iPads-for-students plan hasn't gone as expected with some students hacking into the systems.
Deasy has overseen the district's response to several scandals as well, including at Miramonte Elementary School, where teachers were accused of molesting students.
United Teachers Los Angeles President Warren Fletcher has often butted heads with Deasy over policy.
"I'm a 29-year teacher and I don't remember teacher morale being ever as low as it has been," said Fletcher.
Earlier this year, UTLA members gave Deasy a failing grade.
"Our members made it very clear by a 91 percent vote that they felt they didn't have confidence in his leadership," said Fletcher.
"I can't speak to the superintendent as to why he would resign. It's no secret that the UTLA and the superintendent have had our differences over the last two to three years," Fletcher commented about the resignation.
"Moving forward, this is an opportunity. We want to make sure that as L.A. schools are coming out of the recession, like all California schools are, that resources find their way to the school site and into classrooms so kids can be served. We see this as an opportunity to sort of hit a reset button," he added.
Deasy received a contract extension that would have kept him on the job through 2015. The terms of his contract stipulated the extension would be automatic, provided he received a positive evaluation by the end of October. He was expected to be evaluated by the Board of Education on Tuesday.
Eyewitness News reached out to every member of the school board, as well as Mayor Eric Garcetti, and none of them wanted to speak on camera. We also reached out several times to Deasy, but he did not return our messages.
