Santa Rosa City Schools chief resigns

Santa Rosa City Schools chief Sharon Liddell resigned Tuesday, citing personal financial reasons for her departure.

The resignation is effective June 30.

Her departure was announced to about 70 schools personnel at 12:30 p.m. following a brief closed door meeting with the Santa Rosa School Board.

“The board is unanimous in its desire to keep Sharon as our superintendent, and she would like to stay until her retirement, many years from now,” the board said in a statement read by trustee Bill Carle.

Liddell said ongoing financial issues related to her 2006 divorce are driving her out of California, where her ex-husband is legally entitled to a substantial portion of her retirement.

“As long as I stay in the state of California, it continues to accrue,” Liddell said. “It’s surprising.”

She first notified the board five months ago that her divorce attorney had recommended that she leave California. Board members said they sought various solutions, but none were feasible.

Liddell earns approximately $175,000 annually.

The district plans to hire a search firm to find Liddell’s replacement, Board Member Frank Pugh said.

Liddell, 61, has been the top administrator for the county’s largest school district since 2005 when she was elevated from assistant superintendent for elementary school curriculum and instruction to interim chief after the retirement of Mel Solie.

She was named superintendent after eight months, becoming the first woman to hold that position with the 17,000-student district.

Liddell was contracted with the district through 2009.

She came to the district in 2003 after working for 10 years as an administrator in the San Juan Unified School District in Sacramento County.

The announcement comes amid financial turmoil for California’s schools.

Santa Rosa City Schools could lose at least $3.7 million the district expected to receive from the state through the next school year under Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger’s proposed budget.