San Diego Unified Fires Superintendent Lamont Jackson Over ‘Inappropriate Conduct’

The San Diego Unified School District Board of Education terminated Superintendent Lamont Jackson on Friday afternoon, citing results of an independent investigation into accounts of inappropriate conduct toward two former district employees.

“Upon becoming aware of concerns related to inappropriate conduct by the Superintendent towards certain employees, the Board of Education engaged an independent third-party investigator with no ties to the San Diego Unified School District to undertake an investigation,” the board said in a statement.

“That investigation is now complete. The allegation of inappropriate conduct toward two former employees was found to be credible.”

Deputy Superintendent Fabiola Bagula will immediately become acting superintendent of the district, according to the announcement.

“We are grateful to Superintendent Dr. Lamont Jackson for his leadership. We are confident Dr. Bagula’s experienced leadership will provide stability and consistency for our students, families, and educators during this transition,” the statement read.

In May, the district opened an investigation into Jackson. The district retained Los Angeles law firm Sanchez & Amador in April to conduct “sensitive internal investigations.”

“Two female, former district management employees reported that Dr. Jackson had allegedly made sexual advances which they rebuffed, and thereafter they were released from their contracts and terminated in 2023,” said the law firm in a statement, which added that the women contended that their release and terminations were in retaliation for having refused Jackson’s advances.

The report said that the information came to light in early April 2024 during an informal lunch get-together between one of the women and an SDUSD board member. The woman identified a second person as having had a similar experience.

“In the course of the investigation, other allegations against Dr. Jackson came to light,” the report continued. “Several witnesses alleged he promotes women with whom he has sexual relations and that he has engaged in offensive and sexually-charged behavior.”

However, the law firm said that it did not find sufficient evidence to support claims that women had been fired for refusing sexual advances.

Shane Harris, a spokesperson for Gomez Trial Attorneys, held a news conference following the meeting. That event featured attorneys representing district staff and police officers who sued the district.

“The lawsuit which was filed by school police officers earlier this year named Jackson in it and cited concerns of the culture within the district toward not protecting victims of sexual misconduct,” Harris said. “Since that lawsuit was filed earlier this year, the SDUSD Police Chief has also resigned (his) position.”

The news conference called on SDUSD to make “swift changes” to how it handles sexual misconduct allegations going forward.

Jackson became the superintendent in 2022 following a year as interim head of the school district. A San Diego native, he was appointed in January of 2021, when ex-Superintendent Cindy Marten was nominated to serve as U.S. Deputy Education Secretary in the Biden administration. Jackson worked within the district in various roles over the course of 30 years.

The San Diego Unified School District is the state’s second-largest, with more than 95,000 students and 15,000 employees across more than 200 schools. It also has a budget topping $2 billion.

City News Service contributed to this report.