Censured NVUSD trustee claims retaliation for illness, talking to press
Board members of the Napa Valley Unified School District on Wednesday night approved a resolution to censure trustee Julianna Villegas Hart following allegations that Hart repeatedly behaved inappropriately toward district staff, including Superintendent Rosanna Mucetti.
The special meeting lasted 30 minutes, ending with all six present board members voting unanimously to censure Hart, who was absent due to a scheduling conflict. Hart was elected in 2022 to represent the school district’s Area 7, the northwest quadrant of the city. Her term expires in 2028.
“I have been subject to repeated efforts by Rosanna and the board to get me to quit,” Hart wrote in a post on social media. “This is not the first, nor I suspect, last attempt. I’m not concerned.”
In a phone call, Hart reiterated to the Napa County Times that she wasn’t worried. “A censure doesn’t mean anything to me,” she said, denying allegations of inappropriate behavior toward staffers.
Censuring is a drastic measure that publicly condemns someone’s behavior and attempts to insulate an agency from legal consequences of the behavior. In Hart’s case, the resolution dismissed her from board committees and bars her from entering district offices and schools.
“It’s the next best step to ensure you’re discouraging this conduct, disavowing this conduct, hopefully inspiring some reflection,” Conor Kennedy, a lawyer from Garcia Hernández Sawhney, NVUSD’s legal counsel, told board members. Kennedy presented an 11-page packet of correspondence between Mucetti and Hart, along with letters from the Board of Trustees.
Censuring “is your best and only remedy … to protect district staff,” he said. The resolution also notes a temporary restraining order granted Feb. 11 barring Hart from being within 300 feet of Unidos Middle School.
Concerns about Hart’s behavior have been building for months, but Hart claims they’re misplaced and stem from disputes over pay and talking with press about NVUSD board decisions.
Hart was absent from board meetings until March 26 this year, missing five out of nine meetings. Trustees are paid $1,000 per board meeting. If a meeting is missed, the pay is docked, unless the board member is sick, has jury duty or another hardship “deemed acceptable by the Board.”
Hart has claimed her absence was caused by health problems, confirmed by a doctor’s note that states she “has been unable to attend work or work-related functions from 1/1/2026 to 03/17/2026.” According to Hart, this entitles her to pay for missed meetings in January, February and March.
In the censure packet, a March 31 letter from Mucetti detailed when Hart went to district offices to retrieve her check, she “raised [her] voice and used profanity,” aligning with “disturbing and erratic behaviors reported by a number of concerned members of the community over the past several weeks.”
The letter also notes a change of address filed by Hart that moves her out of Area 7, to which Hart replied “The apartment is temporary. I’ll be back in the house by May. Relax.”
Separately, according to Hart, in January, she reached out to the district to obtain information on ongoing litigation between NVUSD and Napa Foundation for Options in Education to share with a reporter from the Santa Rosa Press-Democrat. NVUSD legal counselor Mary Hernandez told Hart in an email reviewed by the Napa County Times that she advised against speaking with the reporter.
In remarks at the meeting, trustee Eve Reyser denied these claims. The resolution “has nothing to do with allowing or curtailing free speech,” she said.
“I support this resolution in its entirety,” said Reyser before the vote. “Though it gives me no pleasure to do so.”
