Napa School Trustee Censured Over Conduct

NAPA VALLEY, CA —Turmoil inside Napa Valley Unified burst into public view when six trustees voted to censure Julianna Villegas Hart, accusing her of threatening retaliation, berating employees, violating confidentiality rules and repeatedly defying directives meant to shield staff from further disruptions.

According to the resolution, trustees said the misconduct unfolded over weeks and centered on repeated confrontations with district employees over a reduced stipend tied to missed board meetings, unannounced visits to district offices, vulgar and personal remarks made to staff, and hostile text messages sent to Superintendent Rosanna Mucetti.

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The board’s action on Wednesday during a special meeting also cited a March 31 warning letter from Mucetti to Villegas Hart that sharpened concerns over the trustee’s conduct. In that letter, Mucetti wrote Villegas Hart had “caused significant discomfort to the District’s classified staff” through behavior in the district business office, alleging she discussed highly personal marital matters at length, raised her voice, used profanity and reacted angrily after learning her March stipend had been reduced to $1,000 because she attended only one board meeting.

Mucetti wrote the conduct reflected “lack of professionalism in the workplace” and linked it to what she described as “disturbing and erratic behaviors” reported by concerned community members in recent weeks, according to the letter referenced in the censure proceedings.

The censure summarizes the behavior as an escalating pattern of verbal hostility, workplace disruption and refusal to follow governance protocols.

Trustees said Villegas Hart threatened retaliatory action against staff enforcing board bylaws, ignored an order requiring communications to go through the superintendent, and sent disparaging messages including “Total bs” and “Don’t tell me what to do. You work for me.”

The resolution also cites alleged breaches of closed-session confidentiality and claims Villegas Hart resisted attempts to review legal requirements governing confidential board matters.

Trustees paired the censure with penalties. The board rescinded Villegas Hart’s appointments to all committees, barred her from individual contact with district staff other than the superintendent, required the board president to be included in communications, prohibited her from district staff workspaces and school sites, and reaffirmed restrictions already tied to a temporary restraining order issued by Napa County Superior Court.

Villegas Hart first won election to the district’s Area 7 seat, which represents much of the city of Napa north of Redwood Road and Trancas Street, in 2022. Her term expires in 2028.

Her biography lists her as president, board bember, and graduate of Leadership Napa Valley, as president of NEWS Domestic Violence & Sexual Abuse Services Board of Directors, and as a member of the Kiwanis Club of Napa.

She denied the claims made against her. Saying that the district has not paid her $2,000 monthly stipend for March or April, Villegas Hart characterized the censure as an attempt to target her "personal freedom of speech."

"This is a sad statement on the state of the NVUSD," she added. As the only generational local on the board, she said she had been subjected to repeated efforts to force her to quit. "This is not the first, nor I suspect, last attempt. I’m not concerned."

District leaders framed the action as a workplace protection measure, saying the conduct undermined employee safety, disrupted district operations and exposed the school system to legal risk.

The vote marks an extraordinary public rebuke inside a governing body that only a year earlier unanimously adopted the same governance handbook now cited as grounds for discipline.