Quick Take
Heather Contreras, currently the assistant superintendent of school leadership for Modesto City Schools, will replace Michelle Rodriguez as superintendent of Pajaro Valley Unified School District. The district did not provide a start date for Contreras but said current interim superintendent Murry Schekman’s last day will be May 7.
Pajaro Valley Unified School District says it has chosen a new superintendent.
Heather Contreras is the current assistant superintendent of school leadership for Modesto City Schools. PVUSD did not provide a start date for Contreras but said current interim superintendent Murry Schekman‘s last day will be May 7.
The PVUSD governing board approved Contreras’ selection as the next superintendent at its Wednesday meeting. Former superintendent Michelle Rodriguez departed last June to lead Stockton Unified School District. Schekman, a former longtime PVUSD teacher, has served as interim superintendent since Rodriguez’s departure.
Contreras has been in education for 22 years with experience teaching primary and junior high school, as well as serving for the past seven years in district office leadership roles. Contreras has been in her current position of assistant superintendent for the past four years.
According to her LinkedIn profile, Contreras has worked for Modesto City Schools for nearly a decade, first as an elementary school principal and most recently as assistant superintendent of school leadership. She has also served as an adjunct instructor at California State University Stanislaus and was previously an elementary school principal for the Delhi Unified School District in Merced County.
“The success of any organization is the development of all people in the system – from the classroom to the boardroom,” Contreras said in a statement. “I look forward to working collaboratively with the Pajaro Valley team to continue to build a system of success for the community.”
PVUSD governing board president Georgia Acosta said the district is “delighted” to have Contreras join the community.
“With her decades of experience in educational leadership and her dedication to student empowerment, we are confident she will be an administrator that will guide our district with passion and a sense of purpose,” Acosta said in a statement. “We are excited to work with her in ensuring our students’ success.”
Nelly Vaquera-Boggs, the teachers union president, said teachers are looking forward to starting the school year with a superintendent whom teachers can collaborate with.
“We know that the board took their time in interviewing the candidates and deliberating over who they believe will be best to serve our school district,” she said. “We look forward to meeting Heather and creating a connection with her and learning more about how she will benefit our school district.”
The former superintendent, Rodriguez, served as PVUSD’s leader for seven years. In that time, she led the district’s more than 15,000 students through many challenges, including the COVID-19 pandemic and the Pajaro River levee breach. Rodriguez also helped bring new arts programs and developed the district’s career technical education pathways.
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