Administrative Assignments for the 2009-2010 school year
May 22, 2009
Dear Parents of the Ross Valley School District,
We are writing to advise you that the Ross Valley School District Board of Trustees took final action at last night’s board meeting on the following administrative assignments for the 2009-2010 school year:
| Brookside Lower | Marci Trahan, Assistant Superintendent / Principal |
| Brookside Upper | Tracy Smith, Principal |
| Manor | Catalina Nocon, Principal (retiring mid-year) |
| Wade Thomas | Nancy Wasserman, Principal |
| White Hill | David Finnane, Principal |
| The Assistant Principal position at White Hill, and the Manor Principal position (which will become available when Catalina Nocon retires at mid-year) have been advertised and interviews will take place in the next few weeks. |
Both the board and the superintendent expressed their confidence in the administrative team and in moving forward with these placements. These placements achieve several key board goals as the District implements our strategic plan. It offers opportunities for job growth and an opportunity to tap into the excellent skills of our administrative team as we face budget concerns, facility issues and other challenges in our immediate future.
Due to the state’s fiscal crisis, we are faced with making significant cuts in next year’s budget. Both from our Budget Advisory Committee and our community survey it was clear that our community wanted us to keep those cuts as far away from the classroom as possible which in part meant reductions in administration. As a result the board decided to return to an administrative model of a few years ago of having the Assistant Superintendent also serve as a site administrator. We believe that assigning Assistant Superintendent Marci Trahan to the Brookside Lower campus will allow her the time needed to continue her duties as Assistant Superintendent.
Nancy Wasserman was promoted to the Principal position at Wade Thomas in recognition of the value of her years of service and work in our district. Nancy has teaching experience in both elementary and middle school classrooms, as well as successfully serving as an administrator in the District. Wade Thomas is a large K-5 campus which needs the attention of a full time principal.
The board is very committed to the work that has been underway at White Hill Middle School over the past few years in making progress towards implementing the White Hill Strategic Plan and believes fresh leadership will assist the dedicated and innovative teaching community there to achieve our middle school strategic goals.
David Finnane will bring to the middle school strong, effective leadership skills. He will bring diverse stakeholders together to collaborate, develop and implement common visions, which he has demonstrated over the last several years on many district-level projects. We believe David will hit the ground running.
Tracy Smith will continue her excellent work at Brookside Upper and will collaborate with Marci Trahan to continue to bridge the talents and energies at both campuses to create a K-5 learning continuum.
Catalina Nocon has provided outstanding leadership for the past four years at Manor School. She has decided to retire in January, but will continue at Manor for the first half of the year. Catalina will transition and work with the soon-to-be-selected mid-year Principal placement.
We regret that a lack of clarity or communication over the past few weeks has led to confusion within our community. In the next few weeks, administrators will meet with their school communities so that staff and families who may not have previously had the opportunity to work with that administrator can meet them.
Congratulations to all of our administrators and our school communities who will benefit from the outstanding talents of this administrative team.
Sincerely,
The Ross Valley School District Governance Team
Sharon Sagar, Board President
Bryce Sumnick, Superintendent
Trustee Gina Feiner
Trustee Rick McCallum
Trustee Don Wilson
