Parlier Unified just got a new superintendent — but one board member is questioning whether the appointment was done ethically.

At a special Dec. 15 meeting, trustees voted 4-1 to appoint Rafael Iñiguez to the district’s top administrative office with a base salary of $198,919. He was the district’s Career Technical Education director immediately prior to his new appointment.

Iñiguez replaced Altagracia “Gracie” Guerrero, whose last day was Dec. 12 — three days before Iñiguez was chosen.

The board’s swift selection of a successor is part of what ruffled Parlier Unified Trustee Eric Molina’s feathers.

“It says here (on the agenda) we’re appointing a superintendent, yet I have not interviewed the superintendent,” he said at the Dec. 15 meeting before the board went into closed session. He was the lone board member to vote against Iñiguez’s appointment.

In hiring Iñiguez, the board did not advertise the position or conduct a formal search for applicants to lead the small district of just over 3,000 students in rural southeast Fresno County.

The school board also lowered the district’s qualification requirements for the superintendent’s position because Iñiguez had no administrative credential at the time of his appointment, although he’s obtained a preliminary one, the district’s board president said.

“If this person is the best qualified person, he should apply, or she should apply, and we should interview them,” he added. “And if they come up on top, I will gladly support this. But if we’re going to do things unethically and morally not correct, then I do not support it.”

Molina’s comments and the new superintendent’s appointment have created some tension on the small school district’s five-person board, specifically between him and board member Martin Mares, who took over for Molina as board president at a Dec. 13 meeting.

In an interview with The Bee’s Education Lab, Mares defended the appointment Iñiguez, while also firing back at Molina.

“Unfortunately, Mr. Molina is not informed in terms of the proper protocols in terms of what boards can and can’t do,” he said.

Mares added that he sought advice from Parlier Unified’s legal counsel on this issue.

“Every board is different, and every board has a prerogative to decide” how to go about hiring a superintendent, whether that’s appointing one from inside the district or conducting an outside search, Mares said, paraphrasing the legal advice he said the district received.

Mares confirmed that the job opening was never posted. He also said the board decided to waive the administrative credential requirement — which state records indicate Iñiguez doesn’t have — stating the district was in “dire need of leadership.”

“I never said it was illegal,” Molina said in an interview with the Ed Lab, refusing to back down on his criticism of the process. “I said it was unethical.”

Despite the controversy surrounding his appointment, Iñiguez said he’s ready to dive in and support Parlier Unified students.

“I fully understand the needs of the district,” he said in an interview with the Ed Lab, “because I am a product of the district and because I have the preparation.”

“I don’t need to figure out where Chavez Elementary is,” he said in an interview with the Ed Lab. “I’ve been here for my life ... What I’m saying is that I fully understand the needs of the district because I am a product of the district and because I have the preparation.”

PUSD’s new board ‘decided to move in this direction’

The exact circumstances surrounding the departure of Guerrero, Iñiguez’s immediate predecessor, remain unclear.

Mares declined to comment on any particular issues between her and the district. Parlier Unified’s teachers union could not be reached for comment on the change in leadership.

The district announced Guerrero was stepping down in a social media post Dec. 7.

In a video posted by Parlier Unified also on social media Dec. 12, Guerrero said in a parting message on her last day: “This is not how I envisioned the end of my time with you, but I am grateful for the journey we shared.”

Iñiguez’s appointment also came days after Parlier Unified swore in a new school board.

The district welcomed two new trustees Dec. 13: Nathaniel Cid, who ousted incumbent Joe Vasquez, and Mary “Dee Dee” Sanchez, who replaced Elizabeth Tienda after she didn’t seek re-election.

Cid and Sanchez didn’t respond to request for comment. Elena Gonzales, the board’s vice president, referred the Ed Lab to the board president, calling him the board’s spokesperson.

Mares said the “new board” — under his leadership as president — “decided to move in this direction,” while suggesting Molina’s outspokenness was in response to shifting dynamics on the board following the November election.

Under the new superintendent’s leadership, Mares said the board is hopeful the district will focus on improving academics, an area in which Parlier Unified has been struggling: right now, only about 22% of the district’s students are meeting the state standard for English Language Arts, and just under 10% are on par with math.

Iñiguez’s ties to the community and district will help him move the needle, Mares said.

“Why not appoint somebody that is part of your community, that understands your community?” Mares said. “We’ve had other superintendents that have failed to nurture relationships. Dr. Iñiguez’s whole focus is on community.”

In a follow-up interview, Mares said that “the most important” criterion for the board is not whether the superintendent is from Parlier but whether they have the skills to move the district forward.

Parlier Unified’s not the only district whose procedure for hiring a new superintendent has raised questions recently.

Clovis Unified’s school board just convened for a special meeting, solely for the purpose of determining a timeline and procedure to hire a replacement for their retiring superintendent of six years, Eimear O’Brien. Two newly elected trustees challenged the board’s chosen deadline of March for finding O’Brien’s replacement, voicing doubts as to whether that’s enough time to get community feedback and draw in a quality candidate.

West Park Elementary School District’s swift appointment of new superintendent Regina Diaz less than a month after firing their superintendent of 15 years caused controversy, especially when the board fired her fours months later. Some community members also alleged Diaz’s appointment was influenced by her personal relationship with West Park’s former board president.

In contrast, Central Unified conducted a nationwide search, with the help of a hiring firm as well as a panel of community members, in 2021 to find a replacement for former superintendent Andrew Alvarado after he was arrested and resigned two months later. The district still ultimately chose an internal hire.

Who is Iñiguez?

Iñiguez grew up in Parlier and attended Parlier Unified schools, he discussed in an interview with the Ed Lab.

After graduating in 2002, he became the first in his family to attend college at the Ivy League’s University of Pennsylvania. He graduated with a degree in psychology in 2006 before returning to the Central Valley to obtain a master’s from Fresno State in counseling. He then took a job as a counselor in Caruthers Unified.

As soon as a counselor position opened up in his home district of Parlier Unified, however, he applied and started working there in 2011. In that role he pushed to ensure all core classes met the standard for UC and CSU admission, he said, after discovering only about a third of core classes did previously.

“There were systems of oppression that hadn’t hadn’t been in question for decades at Parlier High School,” he said.

In 2015, he became director of the district’s CTE program, where he said he also strove to boost career pathways for Parlier students.

From 2019-2022, Iñiguez returned to Fresno State for a doctorate program in educational leadership. He obtained his PhD in May.

Iñiguez met Board President Mares early on in his journey to becoming superintendent and considers Mares a mentor. Iñiguez was, in fact, a participant in Mares’ Ivy League Project, which helped steer him in the direction of UPenn.

Iñiguez said he understands how their previous relationship may elicit some questions from the community but said he treats all the board members equally.

“In small towns,” he said, “everyone is interconnected.”

He also said that he believes his deep connection to the community will ultimately serve as an asset.

When asked whether their prior relationship raises concerns, Mares said he doesn’t think it does and that as president of the board he wants to work together with Iñiguez to focus on improving academic achievement in the district.

The board in January approved Iñiguez’s three-year contract through June 30, 2025.

Education Lab Newsletter

Get stories that matter on education issues critical to the advancement of San Joaquin Valley residents, with a focus on Fresno. Sign up, and join the conversation.

SIGN UP

The Education Lab is a local journalism initiative that highlights education issues critical to the advancement of the San Joaquin Valley. It is funded by donors. Learn about The Bee’s Education Lab at its website.