LOCAL NEWS
SLC School District parting ways with superintendent
Sep 23, 2022, 5:50 PM | Updated: 6:08 pm
SALT LAKE CITY — The Salt Lake City School District will soon be parting ways with its superintendent, Dr. Timothy Gadson.
The announcement was made Friday afternoon in a joint statement from the Salt Lake City Board of Education and Dr. Timothy Gadson, III:
Dr. Timothy Gadson asked the Board to accept his resignation from the position of Superintendent of the Salt Lake City School District, effective October 1st, citing personal reasons. While the Board agreed to accept his resignation, it has asked Dr. Gadson to remain on in the capacity of a consultant through the term of his contract, and Dr. Gadson has agreed to do so. He will be taking personal time next week while the parties finalize their agreement. Notwithstanding public speculation to the contrary, there has been no finding of any wrongdoing on the part of Dr. Gadson and no violation of law by either Dr. Gadson or the Salt Lake City School Board.
This comes after Gadson — who was named superintendent of the Salt Lake City School District in July 2021 — was placed on paid administrative leave Tuesday, July 12, 2022.
A few weeks later, a Salt Lake City school board member and former state senator alleged Gadson was the victim of racial harassment and an effort to force him to resign.
“The systemic racism and the institutional racism we have within our district, unfortunately, was not ready to receive a Black leader who can actually lead a district in a different direction,” board member Mohamed Baayd said in an August interview with KSL TV and KSL NewsRadio.
Baayd, the only board member who spoke out in defense of Gadson, said the board received complaints against the superintendent and that he viewed those complaints as being racially motivated.
“As a Black person, when I hear them, it’s like someone looking at me and saying, ‘We cannot accept you as who you are. Your culture, your behavior does not match what we are looking for here in our district,’” Baayd said.