Diann Kitamura named interim Santa Rosa schools superintendent

Santa Rosa school officials on Wednesday named Diann Kitamura as interim superintendent to replace Socorro Shiels, who announced her resignation in December after 3½?years at the helm of the county's largest school district.

Kitamura is currently the Santa Rosa City Schools' associate superintendent.

The board's choice was lauded by Shiels, who brought Kitamura on board. “That decision gives me great confidence that the incredible work we are doing will continue,” Shiels said at the Wednesday board meeting.

Shiels was paid an annual salary of $190,968, up from $177,277 when she started. Her last day is Jan. 29. She is to become a director at the California Collaborative for Educational Excellence, an agency created by the state to help school districts implement and manage a new education funding system.

Before the meeting, school board director Jenni Klose said Shiels was leaving the district in good shape and that her expectation is that Kitamura will maintain that.

“The board is generally happy with the direction of the district and the programs that Socorro has put in place consistent with our strategic plan,” Klose said. “We would expect the interim superintendent to continue heading in the same direction.”

It's not known if Kitamura will seek the permanent position.

Shiels came to Santa Rosa from Morgan Hill, where she had been an assistant superintendent. Her tenure in Santa Rosa was marked by an upturn in state funding and two successful bond measures - in contrast with her predecessor, Sharon Liddell, who faced severe cuts - and relationships with teachers that were at times testy.

Also, in 2013 the state changed its funding mechanism, providing school districts with greater control over how they spend their money. That led to a dispute with teachers, who had not received a raise since 2007, over whether that money could be used for pay hikes. Ultimately, more money from the state enabled the district to grant the pay raises.

For many, including her critics among teachers, one of Shiels' defining characteristics was her dedication to meeting the needs of traditionally underserved and at-risk students.

David Hoffman of the North Bay Organizing Project urged the board to hire a superintendent who would continue efforts that started under Shiels to address institutional racism and implicit bias.

The district received six proposals to its call for bids from firms to conduct the search for Shiels' replacement. The bids, ranging from $20,000 to $30,000, were from:

Fairfield-based Cosca Group

Oakdale-based Education Leadership Services, which includes two former Sonoma County education administrators: Kay Schultz, now on the county's Community Development Committee, and Rick Brewer, currently a Sonoma State University professor. Another principal of the firm, Wendell Chun, led the search for Shiels in 2012, for which then-board president Larry Haenel wrote him a letter of recommendation.

La Quinta-based Leadership Associates

McPherson & Jacobson, an Omaha, Neb., firm

Oakland-based Ray and Associates

The Sonoma County Office of Education, which has conducted searches for districts including Windsor and Oak Grove in Sonoma County

“The ideal would be to have someone in place by July 1,” said Klose. “That's the minimum time to really be up to speed for the 2016-2017 school year.”

You can reach Staff Writer Jeremy Hay at 521-5212 or jeremy.hay@pressdemocrat.com. On Twitter @jeremyhay.