{"id":191905,"date":"2026-02-24T21:06:09","date_gmt":"2026-02-24T21:06:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/191905\/"},"modified":"2026-02-24T21:06:09","modified_gmt":"2026-02-24T21:06:09","slug":"how-lisa-allens-exit-has-affected-sac-city-unifieds-morale","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/191905\/","title":{"rendered":"How Lisa Allen\u2019s exit has affected Sac City Unified\u2019s morale"},"content":{"rendered":"

After three decades climbing the ranks of Sacramento City Unified School District, Lisa Allen stepped down as superintendent just as the district\u2019s dire financial crisis began to look up<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Earlier this month, Allen issued an emotional goodbye<\/a> to the district she worked at for three decades hours after she announced her decision to retire to staff members.<\/p>\n

Her sudden resignation on Feb. 5<\/a> was a surprise to many \u2014 despite the profound budget issues that emerged under her tenure, Allen was reportedly well regarded by staff and teachers, particularly those she worked closely with in the district office.<\/p>\n

In the few hours between the staff announcement and the board meeting that would finalize her departure, district employees organized an impromptu send-off celebration for Allen. Communications officer Brian Heap said that their large conference room was packed and those who couldn\u2019t fit spilled out into the hallway and watched through the glass windows. Heap said that \u201ctears were flowing\u201d as staff members spoke about Lisa\u2019s effect on their lives.<\/p>\n

Praise for Allen from staff members, students and district advocates centered around two core qualities: the personal attention she provided staff and her student-centered approach.<\/p>\n

\u201cShe really has this incredible empathetic quality,\u201d former community engagement manager Niki Kangas said.<\/p>\n

Allen\u2019s departure comes a few months after revelations that Sac City was again at high risk of insolvency<\/a>, thanks in part to \u201cflood of unexpected costs\u201d that cropped up at the end of the 2024-25 school year.<\/p>\n

Trustees have expressed frustration with the district staff\u2019s inability to swiftly implement a fiscal solvency plan to prevent a state takeover by the summer.<\/p>\n

The timing of her departure led to questions about Allen\u2019s involvement in the fiscal crisis despite board President Tara Jeane\u2019s insistence that the mutual decision was not a direct result of the budget process. Jeane said at the time that they mutually agreed that \u201ccreating space for new leadership will best position the district to address and overcome its current challenges.\u201d<\/p>\n

The district\u2019s poor spending practices and a broken culture long precede Allen\u2019s leadership, according trustees and other parties.<\/p>\n

Heap sees the association between her resignation and the district\u2019s budget crisis as unfortunate.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt doesn\u2019t feel right to me \u2013 after everything she gave to this district and community \u2013 for her to go out under some sort of perception that she was the person responsible for where we are today,\u201d Heap said.<\/p>\n

Allen, who earned a base salary of $325,000 per year, was paid out for the rest of the year and will continue to receive health benefits through June 30, according to her voluntary separation agreement obtained by The Sacramento Bee.<\/p>\n

What Lisa Allen meant to SCUSD employees<\/p>\n

Allen climbed up the ranks of the district over the course of 30 years, starting as a classroom teacher and eventually taking over as interim superintendent in July 2023 following Jorge Aguilar\u2019s resignation. She was formally hired into the position in April 2024.<\/p>\n

During her time as a leader, the district saw improved state math and English scores across nearly every racial demographic, a graduation rate that improved over pre-Covid levels, increased student support services and the addition of reading intervention teachers at every elementary school.<\/p>\n

Allen took helm at the district at a time of high tension for the district. She took the helm a year following Sacramento City Teachers Association\u2019s eight-day strike and two years after educators and other district staff voted no confidence in former superintendent Aguilar and three years after the state identified the district as being at high risk of fiscal insolvency.<\/p>\n

As superintendent, Allen was able to build on deep-rooted relationships that she had cultivated over several decades .<\/p>\n

Terrence Gladney, a former Sac City parent and longtime advocate for students, has known Allen since 2009, when he was on the school site council at John Cabrillo Elementary School. He said that having Allen as deputy superintendent helped Aguilar\u2019s cabinet maintain essential relationships and knowledge of district history.<\/p>\n

\u201cHaving her there with her understanding of systems and people and interconnected relationships allowed us to honor the history and people of the district,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Gladney also praised Allen for her focus on equity for students. When she served as a staff liaison to the Black\/African American Advisory Board, a group which Gladney chairs, he said she was \u201calways available to listen and counsel and give guidance over things.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cShe was always accessible, no matter how many crazy crises were happening in the district office,\u201d Kangas said.<\/p>\n

Several staff members and students also spoke to Allen\u2019s willingness to engage with them personally and give her undivided attention.<\/p>\n

Justine Chueh-Griffith, a senior at West Campus High School and former student board member, said that Allen \u201ctruly cared about students.\u201d She told a story about how Allen helped protect her during a tense Trans Day of Visibility event when protesters targeted her, the only student in attendance, after she raised the trans flag. Allen guided Chueh-Griffith to her car, pushing through a rowdy crowd.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s just the kind of leader she is \u2014 she really does have a care and passion for students and protecting the kids in this district,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

On a day when Kangas was frustrated with her work in her role as community service manager, Allen sat down with her to tell her a parable about a person throwing stranded starfish back into the ocean, telling a skeptic that even if they couldn\u2019t save them all, their actions made a difference for that one.<\/p>\n

Kangas wears a starfish pin on her blazer each day to remind herself of the sentiment Allen communicated to her: That they are never going to be able to solve all the world\u2019s problems, but that they can chip away at progress to make the system better serve everyone.<\/p>\n

A departure amid layoffs and low morale<\/p>\n

Despite Allen\u2019s interim replacement, Cancy McArn, being well-regarded, the former superintendent\u2019s resignation cast a shadow on what was already a somber environment in the district office.<\/p>\n

\"Cancy Cancy McArn was announced as the interim superintendent of the Sacramento City Unified School District during the meeting on Feb. 5. JOS\u00c9 LUIS VILLEGAS jvillegas@sacbee.com <\/p>\n

Layoffs have disproportionately affected<\/a> their staff and the bimonthly admonishment from the board about their work in recent months has led to a dark mood in the Serna Center.<\/p>\n

Kangas was one of the district employees whose position was slated for elimination. She ended up finding a new job before she was issued a pink slip.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe instability that we\u2019re already feeling is exacerbated by another leadership change,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Losing a leader that forged so many personal relationships in a building being gutted by layoffs<\/a> hasn\u2019t made things easier.<\/p>\n

\u201cMorale is definitely low, not as a result of leadership but because of recent attacks on central office administration,\u201d said an administrator who asked not to be named out of concern for her employment.<\/p>\n

The administrator said they wished the board would look at some of the \u201cgreat strides\u201d the district has made, such as the improved graduation and college readiness rates.<\/p>\n

\u201cI know that Lisa valued the work,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Jeane announced Thursday that the district would soon begin a request for proposals from search firms, saying that the board wanted to prioritize community engagement in the process.<\/p>\n

Related Stories from Sacramento Bee<\/p>\n


\n \"Profile
\n <\/a><\/p>\n

Jennah Pendleton<\/a><\/p>\n

The Sacramento Bee<\/p>\n

Jennah Pendleton is an education reporter for The Sacramento Bee. She previously covered schools and culture in the San Francisco Bay Area. She grew up in Orange County and is a graduate of the University of Oregon.\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"After three decades climbing the ranks of Sacramento City Unified School District, Lisa Allen stepped down as superintendent…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":191906,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[32],"tags":[89984,25796,121,13462,123,122,89985,619],"class_list":{"0":"post-191905","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-sacramento","8":"tag-district-morale","9":"tag-fiscal-crisis","10":"tag-sacramento","11":"tag-sacramento-city-unified","12":"tag-sacramento-headlines","13":"tag-sacramento-news","14":"tag-school-leadership","15":"tag-superintendent-resignation"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/191905","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=191905"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/191905\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/191906"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=191905"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=191905"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=191905"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}