UPDATE: SBHS MAD Academy director permanently off campus

UPDATE: Santa Barbara High School MAD Academy Director Dan Williams is no longer at the helm of the popular Multimedia Arts and Design program.

Joseph Sholder, a Partner with Griffith & Thornburgh, represents Santa Barbara Unified School District (SBUSD). Sholder was contacted Friday regarding Williams’ status and confirmed that “he will not be returning to campus.”

Sholder stated that Williams was not at SBHS Wed, Thursday or Friday.

Tuesday night, members of the Santa Barbara Unified School Board advocated for a plan for the “immediate removal” of Santa Barbara High School MAD Academy Director Dan Williams from campus.

The school board released the following statement:

“The Board gave direction in closed session to staff and legal counsel to initiate a revision to the Williams’ settlement agreement to include the immediate removal from campus.”

The action was put forward by School Board member Laura Capps and seconded by Kate Ford.

Although the school district board voted in favor of Williams’ removal, an immediate plan is not currently in place pending legal proceedings. It is unclear if and when Williams will be removed from the campus. Williams did not show up for work on Wednesday.

The announcement came following emotional public comments that called for the removal of Dan Williams from campus and the resignation of the Superintendent.

Tami Sherman spoke at Tuesday’s school board meeting. This is the full text of her statement.

“Mr. Williams belittled my son, ridiculously blaming the text on the mudflow rather than reporting the allegations that he is required by law to do, Mr Williams buried them. Just last week, on campus, Dan Williams continued to tell students that [Pablo] Sweeney’s sexual texts were a result of the mudflow. It is our strong feeling and opinion that Mr. Williams should not be on campus at all and certainly should not be discussing the situation with students. A year after reporting to Mr. Williams when my son learned that other students continued to be targeted, he made a report to the school administration and shared his story with my husband and I. For four months you tried to bury these allegations behind your internal investigation and other legal wrangling. On Sunday, you sent a misleading and terribly-worded email to students, in which you still did not offer them the full support you should have. Yesterday, finally you involved the police. It took you four months to do what you legally should have done within 48 hours. We should not have to come to these meetings. We should not have had to put our family’s name in the newspapers. We should not have had to spend hours and hours on painful emails, text messages, social media posts, and reporter interviews in order to get you to do what you should have done immediately. The mandatory reporting system in Santa Barbara is broken, it is your fault. A sexual predator was on campus for years. We know multiple victims currently, how many others are keeping quiet because they don’t know where to turn or because they are afraid to be identified and publicly shamed or because they simply don’t trust the authority figures in their lives; you to do the right thing with this information. The message that you have sent to my son and all of the other victims out there is that it will do no good to report this misbehavior by a teacher. Most likely they will not be believed, certainly they will not be supported. This is criminal and very, very dangerous to our children. You have had multiple opportunities to take a harsh public stand on these issues and you failed each time. Earlier this week some vandalism occurred on campus, the administrative response was swift and included an immediate email with contact information for anonymous reporting. How is it you responded this way about property damage, but not the abuse against the children whose safety it is your jobs to insure. Four months ago, why did you not immediately send an email to all current and former students informing any child who feels they have victimized to share their stories. Why did you not ensure their protection and let them know that their report can be anonymous. You should have been sending a message that the district will not allow misconduct to occur and that you would be supporting students. This community deserves to know what your plans are to do differently.”

Sherman was applauded after speaking. We have not been able to independently verify some of the claims made in her speech.

Principal Elise Simmons and other staff members are overseeing the program through the school year, which ends June 5.

*This story originally stated that Williams had been immediately removed from campus. It has been updated with the latest information.