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Schools superintendent to leave
Barbara Young plans to retire in June
Staff Report
Barbara Young, superintendent of the Sonoma Valley Unified School District, announced last week that she was resigning at the end of this school year. In a telephone interview, she said how much she’s loved Sonoma Valley, the people she’s worked with, and the work she’s been doing. She said that her decision was not a result of the recent vote on Measure E, the $91 per year parcel tax that failed to get 67 percent approval from the voters.
Her retirement package through the state employees system reaches its maximum at the end of this year, and Young said simply that, “It’s time for me to retire.” She has maintained her home in Alameda County during the time she was superintendent of schools both in Mill Valley and in Sonoma.
Dan Gustafson, one of five members of the school board, praised Young’s use of process for cutting over $1 million from the district’s budget in order to secure the reserves required by state law. A “stakeholders” group of parents, teachers, and community members was assembled to identify priorities and recommend cuts.
Nicole Abaté Ducarroz, president of the school board, said that Young had “ushered in an era of good feeling and cooperation during difficult times.” The school board expects to select an executive search firm at its next meeting, on December 11, in order to begin a full selection process. Young had been brought in on an interim basis, following the mid-year departure in 2005 of the prior superintendent, before she was hired permanently.
