EDUCATION
Staffing changes dominate school board meeting
O
n the surface, the
March 16 school board
meeting seemed quiet.
Its agenda, however, was
dizzyingly eventful, with a slew
of human resource item making
district operations look a bit like
a game of musical chairs.
First, though, came a business services
matter, with the board authorizing the
district to go to bid for
a $3.5 million district- SCHOOL
wide roofing job BOARD
funded by the 2016
passage of Measure G. The bid under-
scores the fact that capital projects will
monopolize the attention of facilities
staff in the coming years, which has
spurred significant personnel moves.
The district hired outside managers
after the passage of Measure Y in 2000,
partly because that bond included signif-
icant infrastructure overhauls. With
Measure G featuring a number of routine
jobs like lighting and HVAC upgrades,
the district feels it can manage most of
the work in-house.
Rick Cota, who joined the district in
2009, will have a new title: executive di-
rector of facilities and project manage-
ment. He formerly also had nutrition
services under his purview, but Sum-
ner Principal Kristin Robinson will now
head the CUSD food services depart-
ment.
Narrower focus, brand-new titles
It starts with a significant administra-
tive change-up.
Since coming to the district in 2009,
Rick Cota has fielded two key and dis-
parate administrative roles: executive di-
rector of facilities and executive director
of nutrition services.
At last Thursdays gathering, the board
approved a new job description for Mr.
Cota that no longer encompasses food
services. As of July 1, his new title will
be executive director of facilities and
project management.
Felipe Delvasto, senior coordinator of
alternative education and nutrition, will
likewise be leaving cafeteria duties be-
hind. Come the end of the school year,
his new title will be senior coordinator of
alternative education, facilities and proj-
ect management.
Project management has also been
added to the plate of Terryl Noreen, who
will now boast the title of senior coordi-
nator of facilities, project management
and custodial operations. Of the three fa-
cilities staffers, only Mr. Noreen will re-
ceive a slight bump in pay as he moves to
a higher management level.
Mr. Cotas new role would have left
the position of executive director of nu-
trition vacant, but hungry students need
not worry. The role has been filled by
Sumner Principal Kristin Robinson, who
will become head of CUSDs food serv-
ices department at the end of the school
year.
Mr. Cota is determined to make the
transition smooth.
Im going to be a resource to her as
long as she needs. Im going to be work-
ing hand-in-hand with her as we develop
a new student center and food prep area
for CHS, Mr. Cota said, referring to an-
other pending bond project.
Sumner/Danbury to share one heart
Ms. Robinsons departure will leave
Sumner Elementary School without a
principal.
Adjoining Danbury Elementary
School, which focuses on educating dis-
abled studentsparticularly those who
are orthopedically handicapped or med-
ically fragilehas also been short a prin-
cipal since Stephen Hamilton took a
mid-year retirement. Former Danbury
Principal Arnie Bloom has been serving
as interim principal in his absence.
In the blockbuster news of the meet-
ing, attendees learned that rather than re-
placing two outgoing administrators,
CUSD will combine the two schools
under one principal beginning the 2017-
2018 school year.
The schools have long prided them-
selves on an association that sees stu-
dents sharing classes and resources. In
fact, their mutual school song begins
with the words, We share one heart.
Joe Tonan, a fifth/sixth grade teacher
at Sumner, shared a bit of background on
the schools relationship. The district
brought the two schools together in
1997, moving Danbury from Danbury
Road to a site adjacent to Sumner. The
staffs also undertook lots of joint train-
ing but with many of those teachers re-
tired, some of the programs uniting the
campuses have died out.
Theres been some drifting apart of
the two schools. Theres not as many
classes pairing together, Mr. Tonan said.
The district has been seeking input
from Sumner and Danbury employees in
recent weeks and has consistently heard
that they need more support, Assistant
Superintendent of Human Resources
Kevin Ward said.
There has been a lot of professional
development at CUSD over the past cou-
ple of years. While teachers see the value
in the new approaches and programs,
they want help implementing them, ac-
cording to Mr. Ward. In response, the
district will put in place a teacher on spe-
cial assignment (TOSA) who will serve
as an instructional coach to help teachers
district-wide implement the training.
Sumner staff has also asked for sup-
port with the increasing number of spe-
cial needs students they are encountering
in their classrooms.
Sumner has had a good reputation for
COURIERphotos/Steven Felschundneff
With the mid-year retirement of Danbury Principal Steve Hamilton, seen here
with former Danbury student Elina Hughes, CUSD administrators have decided
to combine Sumner and Danbury Elementary Schools. Sumner and Danbury
have shared the same campus for 20 years.
really being able to help kids that dont
exactly fit into the typical elementary
school model. Because of that, more and
more students with higher education
needs are coming to Sumner, Mr. Ward
said.
It would be easy to assume the district
is opting to have the schools share a sin-
gle head administrator to save money.
Mr. Elsasser and his fellow administra-
tors, however, have assured the staffs at
Sumner and Danbury that they will be
buttressed by even greater administrative
support.
In the two-principal model, there was
some overlap, with the administrators
doing the same work specifically for
their own site, Mr. Ward said. In terms
of bodies, theres going to be slightly
more than what we had existing. Theres
not really going to be a cost savings. Its
not being done from a budgetary per-
spectiveits programmatic.
Those bodies include an assistant prin-
cipal to handle student services like
classroom placement issues, discipline,
attendance and counseling, as well as a
part-time board-certified behavior ana-
lyst. In addition, a program specialist
whose primary job is to assist with or-
thopedically handicapped and medically
fragile students will likely see their head-
quarters moved from the district office to
Danbury.
Another part-time teacher on special
assignment will be enlisted to support
Danburys special day classrooms,
where students with conditions like
autism or Downs syndrome are taught.
No additional aides will be hired, Mr.
Ward said.
Teachers express cautious optimism
Sumner and Danbury, which have
about 530 and 75 students, respectively,
have traditionally been viewed as two
schools or been presented as a hyphen-
ate: Sumner-Danbury. Mr. Ward says he
is now thinking of them as one campus:
Sumner Danbury.
Claremont COURIER/Friday, March 24, 2017 5
The staffs were presented with the
change last Thursday by a delegation
consisting of Superintendent Jim El-
sasser, Mr. Ward, Assistant Superintend-
ent of Student Services Mike Bateman
and Director of Special Education
Amber Verdi.
Jim asked them to give the model a
try. He said the district will put it in place
for a year to two years, and evaluate its
success to make sure things are headed
in the right direction, Mr. Ward said.
Hes not really married to any one ap-
proach and hes not going to blindly let
[the changes] be implemented. This
model could change and it could grow.
Sarah Estrada, a special education
teacher at Danbury, said the announce-
ment was a surprise.
I think just knowing that Danbury
School had been under a certain model
for so many years, it brought a certain
level of uncertainty at first, she said.
All our students have physical and
health impairments and our school site
has so many diverse learners. Being a
teacher of a specialized field, my concern
is always that my students needs are
going to be met.
Mr. Tonan said the staffs of Sumner
and Danbury have mixed feelings on the
combining of the campuses.
Theres some uncertainty, but also
hope that this will give us a chance to
restart things and really integrate us more
than we already are, he said.
Rick Dutton announces retirement
There was one more significant
human resources item on the board
agenda. Claremont High School Athletic
Director Rick Dutton will retire at the
end of the school year.
Mr. Dutton was a CHS football coach
from 1978 to 1997 and took on the posi-
tion of athletic director in 1995. Look for
a full article on his legacy in a future edi-
tion of the COURIER.
Sarah Torribio
storribio@claremont-courier.com