The Mountain View Whisman School District has approved a $700,000 settlement for two female administrators who accused former superintendent Ayinde Rudolph of sexual harassment and discrimination.
Board members voted unanimously in closed session on October 22 to pay $350,000 each to Stevenson Elementary Principal Megan Pohlman and former Graham Middle School Principal Heidi Galassi, according to district records. Both women filed complaints in late 2024 and, under the settlement terms, signed waivers releasing the district from any future legal claims.
Board President Charles DiFazio framed the payout as a pragmatic end to a potentially protracted dispute. “Every person who works here deserves to be treated with respect, professionalism, and to feel safe raising concerns when something is not right,” he said. “The board takes seriously its role to provide a safe and healthy workplace.”
The settlement lands nearly a year after Rudolph, the former superintendent, collected his own taxpayer-funded departure package. The district paid him $98,259 to resign quietly in November 2024 without filing suit, a move that came amid mounting pressure from parents and staff over his spending habits.
Rudolph’s tenure had become synonymous with eyebrow-raising expenditures long before the harassment allegations surfaced. The district contracted with Alycia Diggs-Chavis, a self-described “Master Energy Healer & Intuitive Guide,” for contracts worth up to $315,000 to conduct leadership sessions in “spiritual development and awakening.”
He defended those outlays at the peak of public outrage, claiming corporate coaching and chakra aligning were “backed by scientific research.” Employee wellness, he insisted, was “worth every dollar.”
The spending priorities drew sharp contrast with classroom conditions. Teachers reported being forced to double as janitors to address cockroach infestations in their own rooms, even as the district employed an in-house public information officer earning more than $264,000 in 2022, state salary data showed. Classroom funding simultaneously faced cuts.
Rudolph’s exit accelerated after he announced that the state Fiscal Crisis and Management Assistance Team would audit the district for potential fraud. He stepped down shortly thereafter.
The harassment settlement now compounds the financial fallout from Rudolph’s leadership. Between his resignation payout, the energy healer contracts, the newly approved settlement, and the looming costs of systemic reforms DiFazio promised, the district faces a stacked ledger of expenses tied to his brief superintendency.
Pohlman remains principal at Stevenson Elementary. Galassi, formerly at Graham Middle School, has since left the district.
The board’s closed-door vote on October 22 offered no public discussion of the harassment complaints’ specific allegations. DiFazio’s statement emphasized procedural changes ahead rather than retrospective accountability.
The district has not disclosed whether Rudolph contributed personally to the settlement or retains any liability exposure. The two women who brought the complaints are bound by confidentiality provisions typical of such agreements.
Rudolph has not publicly addressed the harassment allegations since the settlement emerged. His earlier statements defending the district’s wellness spending remain his only extensive public remarks from the final months of his tenure.
DiFazio indicated that internal reporting procedures would be overhauled in response to the complaints, though he offered no timeline or specifics for those changes.
The Fiscal Crisis and Management Assistance Team audit that Rudolph announced before his departure has not yet released public findings. Its scope included potential fraud in district spending, a mandate that covered the energy healer contracts and other discretionary outlays under his signature.