Piner principal becomes third to retire

Piner High principal Mary Beth Halsey will retire this summer, becoming the third principal to leave Sonoma County's largest school district amid a growing personnel shuffle.

Halsey, who has been principal at Piner since 2007, will leave the post at the end of the school year. She was out of town Wednesday and unavailable for comment.

Santa Rosa City Schools now must replace the top administrators at three of its 22 schools this summer.

Santa Rosa High has been without a permanent principal since October when Jim Goddard was removed and transferred to the district office as "principal on special assignment."

Retired administrator Sue Sion was tapped as interim principal and her stay was extended when a search for a permanent principal failed to produce a new hire by January.

Sion's last day was Feb. 19 after the state denied the district's application to waive restrictions on retirees returning to active duty.

Harriet Gray, who in February announced she is retiring as Cook Middle School's principal after 38 years in the district, took over at Santa Rosa High Feb. 25.

Burbank Elementary School is also without a permanent principal after Patricia Turner moved over to Cook. Kris Cosca, director of curriculum and student support services for the district, will lead Burbank until the end of the year.

The district has not yet advertised for the post at Burbank but has issued a statewide call for applications for the jobs at Piner and Santa Rosa, said Pat Crocker, assistant superintendent.

"We haven't yet determined whether we might mix the screening interviews or hold completely separate interviews," she said of the two high school posts.

The closing date for applications is April 5.

Principals in Santa Rosa City Schools earn approximately $121,000, Crocker said.

The failed mid-year search for a principal at Santa Rosa High was caused by poor timing and doesn't point to a larger issue with a lack of qualified candidates, Crocker said.

"That was a very awkward time to be searching," she said.

Piner is in the fifth year of program improvement sanctions under the federal No Child Left Behind law.

Superintendent Sharon Liddell said Halsey's departure is not related to those federal sanctions, which can include the removal of administrators.

"Absolutely not," she said. "It's going to be quite a loss for us.

"We wish her the very best, but boy, it is going to be a big set of shoes to fill," she said.

Halsey joined the district in 1987 as a teacher at Slater Middle School. She has worked in the district office as a coordinator of secondary curriculum and moved over to the vice principal position at Elsie Allen High School in 2004 before advancing to Piner.