An online petition with more than 200 signatures calls for the resignation of Itoco Garcia, superintendent of the Sausalito Marin City School District.

The anonymous petition, launched last week by “concerned parents,” cites recent financial and budget issues as the main reason for seeking the ouster of Garcia, the head of the beleaguered district for the last three years. No organizer was identified.

“Dr. Garcia’s failed oversight of our district has led to a complete lack of community trust and confidence in him,” the petition said. “The mistakes have been too many and the inability to genuinely connect with our school community is ever-present.”

The petition also cites Garcia’s plan to reduce the number of out-of-district students next year and blames him for the difficulties in arranging bus transportation to and from Sausalito for elementary school students in Marin City.

“It’s hard to understand how our district has some of the highest property taxes going straight to our school, and many homes don’t have children,” Marin City parent Laura González wrote in the comments section of the petition. “How is that not enough to keep our out-of-district kids, when most of the parents work in the city and therefore contribute to the local economy?”

González, a former board of trustees candidate, has also submitted a letter questioning Garcia’s financial management to the board for inclusion at its meeting on Thursday.

Garcia said Monday he will not step down. In an email, he said he intends to use “the same resolve that was necessary to overcome the Attorney General’s judgement, and to overcome Covid-19,” to “overcome this present challenge.”

Garcia was referring to an August 2019 desegregation order issued by the state. It was part of a settlement with the district over allegations it ran a segregated school and misappropriated resources between the district-authorized charter school — Willow Creek Academy in Sausalito — and the district’s school, Bayside Martin Luther King Jr. Academy in Marin City.

The schools were merged into a single entity with two campuses last year.

Garcia said he will provide a financial management update to the community Thursday during the regular board of trustees meeting. Also, he has scheduled two online forums for 7 p.m. April 28 and May 26 to address community concerns.

“I always want to hear feedback from our community, positive or negative,” Garcia said. “I am proud of the levels of engagement in our community. I am proud of the work that we have done together to unify our community, to overcome division and divisiveness, fear and anxiety in the most unprecedented era in public education.”

The district’s board, in a written statement Monday, said it backs Garcia and praised his tenacity in dealing with multiple challenges since he was hired in June 2019, just before the state’s historic desegregation order.

“Our newly merged school, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Academy, is less than one year old,” the trustees’ statement said. “The impact stability in leadership has on the success of any start up organization in the very early days is one of the most important aspects to achieving the next level of success.”

The trustees said they were confident in Garcia’s ability to right the teetering financial ship.

“Our superintendent, Dr. Garcia, has taken ownership and accepts responsibility for mistakes made around not providing enough budget oversight and monitoring during the transition of the district’s previous chief business officer, who prepared the first-ever unified school budget, to our newly hired chief business officer during the first few months of unification,” the statement said.

The chief business officer resigned at the end of January. The district is using a fiscal consultant to manage its budget under a cost-sharing arrangement with the Marin County Office of Education.

Mary Jane Burke, Marin superintendent of schools, said the district needs to shore up its financial framework and policies now that unification has been accomplished.

Earlier this year, the county education office, which Burke oversees, found a $1.6 million shortfall in the district’s 2022-23 budget. Several weeks later, it uncovered a $450,000 gap in the 2021-22 spending plan — putting the district at risk of not being able to pay its bills.

“The financial situation of the district is one of the most challenging I have seen in my career and is a result of the convergence of many factors — not the least of which was the unification of the charter school and the district,” Burke said Monday.

“I would urge the staff to utilize the district board policies that are in place to formally bring forward concerns with safeguards, timelines and protections in place,” she said.

Privately, staff say they are frustrated, particularly over the budget cuts in which 14 staff members on both campuses either resigned or were laid off.

In addition, staff dissatisfaction bubbled up at the middle school last month when seven teachers staged a one-day unauthorized sick-out. The reasons for the incident were not made public.

Garcia, who received a starting salary of $190,000 when he was hired, now makes $200,000 annually, he said. He does not receive additional compensation for extra duties he has taken on, such as acting special education coordinator or interim chief business officer.

Burke confirmed that information.

“While the superintendent has taken on additional roles and responsibilities in the district, he is not receiving any compensation in addition to his superintendent salary,” she said Monday.