Santa Rosa school district's interim superintendent to get permanent job

Interim Santa Rosa City Schools Superintendent Diann Kitamura has been selected for the permanent leadership position, a decision district trustees will formalize at a May 11 meeting, board President Donna Jeye announced this weekend.

Kitamura’s selection is a reflection, in part, of her extreme popularity among teachers, staffers and parents in Sonoma County’s largest school district, where she has demonstrated her ability to engage and unify different parties and to turn planning into reality, Jeye said.

“I’m truly excited about her being our new leader,” Jeye said Sunday.

A three-year employee of the district, Kitamura had been serving as associate superintendent under Socorro Shiels, who left the top job Jan. 29 to work for the California Collaborative for Educational Excellence, an agency created by the state to help school districts implement and manage a new education funding system.

In an email, Kitamura said working with district employees over the past few months as they shift to the new local control funding formula and implement new state education standards persuaded her to seek the post on a permanent basis. The support of the district staff and board also influenced her decision, she said.

Kitamura bring 32 years of educational experience “in every role from teacher to superintendent” to the new job, and said there will be no need for a transition to new leadership.

She said she is a “collaborative leader and system thinker that supports innovation and creativity,” and also a “team builder who connects with diverse groups and people.”

Even before Shiels’ departure, Kitamura had been instrumental in identifying needs and rolling out programs under the new local control funding system, such as working with nonprofit agencies like Social Advocates for Youth and Community Action Partnership of Sonoma County, Jeye said.

During the district’s search for a new superintendent, “people went above and beyond to let us know how exemplary they believe her performance is and how necessary they believe it is for us to retain her and allow her to continue the work that she personally had initiated here,” Jeye said.

She said Kitamura emerged as the best choice despite applications from other outstanding candidates “with national acclaim.”

Jeye noted that a firm hired to conduct the search for Shiels’ replacement told district officials that in 20 years and ?362 searches, it had never received as much response to a community survey as it did in Santa Rosa.

Jeye, now in her third board term, said she and other trustees also received a tremendous amount of input from the public.

“Parents say that they believe what she’s doing is actually impacting their kids in the classroom,” she said. “That’s pretty powerful stuff.”

Kitamura, 57, holds a master’s degree in counseling and credentials for educational leadership, pupil personnel services and teacher education. She also has a bachelor’s degree in crop science from Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo.

Shiels recruited her out of the Hayward Unified School District to work as assistant superintendent in Santa Rosa.

You can reach Staff Writer Mary Callahan at 521-5249 or mary.callahan@pressdemocrat.com. On Twitter @MaryCallahanB.