BY BRADEN CARTWRIGHT
Daily Post Staff Writer
The head of Castilleja School, Nanci Kauffman, who was the public face of the campus’s fight with neighbors in Palo Alto over enrollment and redevelopment, is leaving her position, board chair Zac Zeitlin told the Post on Thursday.
Zeitlin didn’t give a reason for Kauffman’s departure, referring all questions to the school’s spokeswoman.
The school’s student news website, Counterpoint, reported that Associate Head for Finance and Operations Kathy Layendecker will temporarily take over when Kauffman steps down at the end of September.
Kauffman started at Castilleja as a teacher in 1999 and became head of school in 2010, according to the school’s website.
Kauffman was in charge during a decade-long saga with the city over the school going over its enrollment cap until the city found out in 2013.
Castilleja then applied for a new permit to redevelop the campus at 1310 Bryant St., which council approved last year over neighborhood opposition.
Things took another turn this summer when Castilleja asked the College of San Mateo to host their students during construction. The college board said no and didn’t publicly give a reason.
Castilleja then arranged to have its sixth graders at the JCC this year, with the rest of students on campus in Palo Alto.