The audience at Monday’s Sweetwater school board meeting erupted in applause after learning the superintendent was being placed on leave.
Sweetwater Union High School District Edward Brand will be on paid administrative leave until his contract expires Oct. 1, the board announced.
Sweetwater Trustee Mark Anderson said the decision is meant to move the district forward.
“We do not believe the superintendent did anything wrong. That’s not the intent of our decision,” Anderson said Monday.
The board voted to place Brand on leave during a closed-door session. Trustees are expected to name an interim superintendent at a special meeting scheduled for 3:30 p.m. Wednesday.
Brand announced in May that he would retire Oct. 1. He became superintendent in September 2012, several months before multiple school officials from the South Bay – including Sweetwater – were indicted in a widespread “pay to play” corruption scandal.
