By Melody Gutierrez
mgutierrez@sacbee.com
Twin Rivers Unified School District trustees named one of the district's high school principals as interim superintendent for this school year, and indicated they will consider him for the permanent job.
Foothill High School Principal Joseph Williams will earn $210,058, plus an $800 monthly car allowance after he was selected interim leader in a 5-2 vote during Tuesday night's board meeting, with trustees Walter Garcia Kawamoto and Rebecca Sandoval voting no.
Kawamoto and Sandoval said their no votes were not directed at Williams, but rather had to do with other issues.
"I've heard wonderful things about Mr. Williams," Sandoval said during Tuesday's board meeting.
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, while reporting actions from closed session.
After receiving 20 applicants for the interim job, the board interviewed eight candidates last week and selected Williams on Thursday. Trustees did not announce their selection until Tuesday in order to negotiate a contract.
"We had some really good candidates," Trustee Michael Baker said. "I am excited about Joe Williams being our interim leader. He is the right person to lead us this year."
At Tuesday's board meeting, trustees selected CPS Human Resources to conduct its search for a permanent superintendent.
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 replaces short-term interim superintendent Rob Ball, who has been the associate superintendent for business support services since the creation of Twin Rivers in 2008.
Ball took over in May as acting superintendent, then short-term interim superintendent in place of Superintendent Frank Porter, who officially retired June 15.
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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