Newly appointed Twin Rivers Unified Interim Superintendent Joseph Williams said one of his top priorities during this school year is to make the school district a place of choice.
Williams was named interim during Tuesday night's school board meeting following a 5-2 vote, with Trustees Walter Garcia Kawamoto and Rebecca Sandoval voting no.
Williams will earn $210,058, plus an $800 monthly car allowance. Williams' contract includes a stipulation that if he is not chosen to be the long-term superintendent before his contract ends June 30, he will become an associate superintendent through 2015 or 2016, said board President Cortez Quinn.
"We chose the right person," Quinn said. "He has been in the business a while ... He will be considered for the permanent position if he applies."
The district is in the early phases of selecting a permanent superintendent, having just selected the firm that will do the search.
In a brief interview after Tuesday's school board meeting, Williams said he would like to highlight some of the positive work being done within the school district.
He pointed to his strong leadership background as the reason he likely stood out during interviews with trustees.
Williams was in his second year at Foothill High School. Before that, he was interim dean of students at American Canyon High School in Napa. He previously was an assistant superintendent of curriculum and instruction with the Campbell Union High School District in San Jose and director of secondary education with San Rafael City Schools.
He also served in the Navy and Army.
Williams said when he left active duty in 1988, he went to grad school knowing he wanted to be a math teacher. He went on to teach in middle and high schools.
During his career in education, Williams has moved around quite a bit.
"When opportunities availed themselves, I have seized those opportunities," Williams said.
Williams said he took the principal position at Foothill High School because he missed being at the site level.
"It was a tough decision to leave Foothill," Williams said.
Loretta Kalb started her reporting career at The Sacramento Union, moved to KOVR-13 as a television reporter, editor and producer, headed to The Associated Press in San Francisco and eventually returned to Sacramento and joined The Sacramento Bee. Throughout her career, she has covered the state Legislature, courts, local government and, now, education. She is a Chico native and an Elk Grove resident.
Diana Lambert began her journalism career as a proofreader at the Lodi News-Sentinel. She is now a senior writer at The Sacramento Bee covering K-12 education and California State University, Sacramento. Previously she was The Bee’s Elk Grove bureau chief. Lambert was raised in a military family and lived at bases around the globe. She attended four high schools, graduating from Tokay High in Lodi and then Sacramento State University. She lives in Elk Grove.
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