Sequoia Union is short-staffed

The declaration is required for the district to authorize emergency CLAD certifications to new educators who did not earn it in their credentialing process or for out-of-state hires. According to the declaration, the district anticipates granting another 10 limited assignment permits for single subject and special education educators for the next school year.

Districts throughout the state have struggled to hire qualified staff and the strain is being felt especially hard in the Bay Area where cost of living is high compared to other parts of the state and country, education officials have said.

The action was approved without discussion just before the board also approved a salary increase for Superintendent Darnise Williams and Crystal Leach, associate superintendent of Administrative Services, to align their salaries with those given to officials in similar roles in other districts.

Board President Carrie Du Bois voted against the salary increase but noted her dissent was not in response to Williams’ work in the district. Instead, she said she was voting no on principle, feeling strongly that a salary increase should be approved in connection with an evaluation.

Du Bois noted she would feel apprehensive about the salary increase regardless of who was in the seat and questioned whether staff would be in support of the move.

“This is nothing against our superintendent who I believe our board is very happy with and I have no indication that she would not have a very good evaluation from the board but philosophically I’m against giving any type of increase outside of an evaluation especially as a school board member,” Du Bois said.

Before implementing the salary increases, Leach was earning less than an employee on the assistant superintendent salary schedule. Once Leach’s compensation was increased to a fairer rate though, that would place her pay near what Williams was earning, requiring the district to also increase her pay.

Now, Williams will earn $284,828 annually, set retroactively to Jan. 1 with an additional $1,283 granted for holding a master’s degree and $1,283 for a doctorate. Her base rate will increase to $291,979 beginning July 1, contingent on a satisfactory review.

Similarly, Leach will earn $261,677 annually, set retroactively to Jan. 1 with an additional $1,328 for holding a master’s degree and $1,328 for a doctorate. If she receives a satisfactory review, her base rate will increase to $268,248.

Trustee Chris Thomsen lauded Williams as one of the best officials they’ve had fill the role since he joined the board more than a decade ago but argued the salary increase was not about Williams but about equity.

Having reviewed salary schedules of nine other districts in the county, Thomsen said on average the districts had a gap of about $75,000 between its top paid and bottom paid administrators. SUHSD would have a gap of about $20,000 that would have soon narrowed.

“Personally I’ve seen more progress in one year here with this superintendent and I’ve seen more promise that we may be able to achieve in the district with the current superintendent,” said Thomsen. “But this salary change has nothing to do with this evaluation. … This was a necessary equity adjustment.”

The board also adopted an updated trustee area map that reflected a minor adjustment to accommodate for population changes following the U.S. 2020 census. Given that Trustee Area A was too large by about 6,500 people and Area D was too small by about 4,300 people, the firm PowerSchool presented the district with a solution that shifts 4,900 residents from Redwood City’s Stambaugh-Heller neighborhood and part of the Downtown neighborhood into Area D.

Trustees Alan Sarver in Area A and Thomsen in Area D are up for reelection in November while Du Bois, Vice President Richard Ginn and Trustee Shawneece Stevenson will be up for reelection in 2024.

sierra@smdailyjournal.com

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