The Merced City School District Board of Education quietly fired a longtime administrator who served as acting superintendent during a year of turbulence and transition for the district.
Reporting a closed session vote, the school board unanimously terminated the associate superintendent of human resources contract at its Jan. 14 meeting. District officials confirmed this week that was the last day of employment for Brian Meisenheimer, a 10-year veteran administrator with the district.
Meisenheimer worked as an assistant and associate superintendent for a number of years before he was named acting superintendent in 2023 upon the board’s abrupt firing of a superintendent it hired less than a year prior.
Meisenheimer stepped in as the leader for the county’s largest school district as the board embarked on a rocky search for its next permanent superintendent. The board hired Julianna Stocking as that person in June 2024.
Meisenheimer was placed on paid administrative leave in August, on the first day of the 2024-25 school year. At the time, district officials didn’t provide an explanation.
District officials also declined to explain why his contract was terminated, citing personnel confidentiality.
As associate superintendent of human resources, Meisenheimer’s salary was $191,000. While he worked as acting superintendent, he earned $240,000.
The term of his contract as associate superintendent was two years, ending in June 2025. District officials did not clarify whether Meisenheimer’s contract was terminated with or without cause, so it remains unclear whether he is entitled to any severance pay.
Meisenheimer’s time as acting superintendent was not without controversy.
The first consulting firm the board hired to conduct the superintendent search collected and compiled feedback from the district community to guide the board’s candidate selection. However, the report contained criticism and serious allegations of misconduct against top district officials.
The board never officially accepted the report and voted 3-2 to fire the first search firm. But the Merced County Superintendent of Schools received a copy and treated it as a public record, so the report eventually became public.
Before becoming an administrator, Meisenheimer worked as a principal in Atwater, according to his LinkedIn profile. In 2023, he was named the personnel/human resources administrator of the year by the Association of California School Administrators.
The Merced FOCUS left a voicemail for Meisenheimer seeking comment for this story. He had not called back by the time of publication.