![Shounak Dharap, president of the school board of Palo Alto Unified School District, announced Friday morning that Superintendent Don Austin separated from his superintendent position at PAUSD. Corbin Dodd, an Ethnic Studies and AP Seminar teacher at Palo Alto High School, said that Austin's separation from the district surprised him and his colleagues. "Negotiations are happening right now, so there's a lot of talk about the school board and the superintendent, but it [Austin's separation] wasn't on my radar, and I don't think it was on the radar of any of the teachers I've spoken to," Dodd said.](https://palyvoice.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/IMG_7950-1200x900.png)
Palo Alto High School staff members are cautiously optimistic about the future of the Palo Alto Unified School District following Superintendent Don Austin’s “mutual separation” from the district announced Friday morning.
PAUSD announced Austin’s transition to superintendent emeritus Friday morning, meaning Austin will depart from superintendent duties effective immediately, but will continue advising the district through the transitional process until a replacement superintendent is chosen by June 30.
Palo Alto Educators Association President Tom Culbertson said that the district struggled under Austin’s leadership, and PAEA is looking forward to a potential culture change.
“This has been a difficult chapter for us under this [Austin’s] leadership,” Culbertson said. “Morale has really taken a hit, professional trust has really eroded over the years. We’re looking for a cultural reset. This is what we [PAEA] have been asking for for a long time.”
Additionally, Culbertson said that PAEA often felt like Austin was not on the same page as teachers.
“It doesn’t feel good when you feel like the people that work in the same organization are actively working against you,” Culbertson said.
Austin has faced an especially critical past few weeks as superintendent, as tensions over salary negotiations and position cuts boiled over into a public verbal confrontation between Austin and Paly Board Representative Dylan Chen at a Feb. 10 school board meeting.
Additionally, PAUSD at that meeting reached a $3.25 million settlement with Fletcher Middle School physical education teacher Peter Colombo, according to Palo Alto Online. Colombo, who was accused of sexually assaulting a student at Greene Middle School during the 2001-2002 school year, sued for what he claims was a mishandling of his case when Austin said the district would continue to investigate him even after the Santa Clara County district attorney dropped the charges. Colombo was reinstated to his teaching position at the start of this school year.
Paly history teacher Stephen Foug said he was unsettled by the tone that was set for the rest of the district following Austin’s engagement in a verbal confrontation with Chen.
“From someone who watched the [Feb. 10] board meeting, it became hard to imagine a functioning governing body for this district.” Foug said. “The superintendent sets a tone. I’ve been wondering what the tone is going to be going forward, and I think we got the board’s response.”
Despite this, Foug said that he does not view Austin’s entire administration as having been negative for the district.
“I know he [Austin] ran a good budget for a while,” Foug said. “I’ve heard praise for him throughout his time here for certain things. It seems like this [recent controversy surrounding Austin] is less about policy, more about style.”
Paly Librarian Sima Thomas said that she hopes for strong communication and cooperation with the district in the future.
“I’m looking forward to the process,” Thomas said. “I’m hoping for a positive future relationship between students and teachers and our district administration.”
Thomas’ sentiment is echoed by a Paly teacher who requested to stay anonymous for fear of retribution while Austin still has influence as superintendent emeritus.
“I’m hopeful that this represents something bigger,” the teacher said. “We want a pro-teacher district office.”
