District staff presented Trustees with the agreed upon process and timelines in regards to the Superintendent search for the next Winters Joint Unified School District Superintendent at the regularly scheduled school board meeting on July 21.
At a special meeting on July 12, the Board of Trustees met with McPherson & Jacobson, LLC consultants Bill Huyett and Nicole Anderson to discuss the details and dates.
During this special meeting, Trustees defined the following items: search process timelines, preferred advertising venues, desired characteristics in a superintendent and educational partner engagement.
On July 19, Human Resources Director Lisa Dennis sent the Express the calendar of the discussed search process timeline which outlines:
July 8–Aug. 25: Posting dates of the position on EdCal, Edjoin and the McPherson & Jacobson LLC website
Aug. 17–25: Educational Partner Engagement sessions
Aug. 18: Public Board meeting update
Sept. 8: Special Board meeting to review candidates in closed session
Sept. 16–17: Superintendent Candidate Interviews
Oct. 6: Regular Board meeting to take action on final candidate in open session
Nov. 1: (subject to contract negotiations) Target start date for new Superintendent
Trustees confirmed their desired characteristics of the next Winters JUSD Superintendent include he or she is an: equity leader, effective educator, effective collaborator and communicator, transparent leader and a strategic manager.
There will be multiple opportunities for Winters JUSD staff, families and community members to provide their input and share their priorities with the team. These opportunities include in-person sessions, virtual sessions, and an online survey.
“The Board of Trustees is committed to ensuring that we lay the foundation for a systematic, comprehensive process that attracts numerous qualified candidates and culminates in the best choice for our next Superintendent,” Dennis said. “We will continue to provide updates at Board meetings and through community messages as we move through this exciting process.”
Dennis and Anietta Kelley, Assistant to the Superintendent, will be working with the consultants to set them up.
Compensation approval
Phoebe Girimonte, Assistant Superintendent of Educational Services, was appointed Acting Superintendent at the June 23 Board of Trustees meeting.
“Mrs. Girimonte’s acceptance of this role allows us to assure all employees, students, families, and the broader Winters community that we are in good hands,” Dennis said. “We are grateful for Mrs. Girimonte’s can-do spirit and that she accepted this responsibility from a place of loyalty to the District and the community where she and her family have lived for 15 years.”
Trustees unanimously approved to compensate Girimonte for her roles.
Girimonte will continue to receive her current monthly salary as Assistant Superintendent of Educational Services, and be paid an additional amount constituting the difference between the daily rate based on the outgoing Superintendent’s initial annual salary of $165,000 and the daily rate of the Assistant Superintendent of Educational Services as of July 21.
