PVUSD to begin superintendent search, appoint interim

The Pajaro Valley Unified School District Board of Trustees on Wednesday are scheduled to appoint an interim leader to fill the vacancy when current Superintendent Michelle Rodriguez leaves on June 30.

Clint Rucker, who currently serves as the district’s Chief Business Officer, will take the helm during the search. He says he has no plans to make the move permanent.

Rodriguez announced her departure on June 2 after she took a position at Stockton Unified School District. 

She says the move allows her to fulfill her career goal of moving to a larger district. Stockton has 36,000 students, nearly twice that of PVUSD. She also says she wants to move to a district with a “disinvested” population.

In her new position, Rodriguez will receive $295,000 per year, in addition to more than $22,000 in health benefits.

She made $256,000 as PVUSD’s top official, plus about $35,000 in benefits.

Also during the meeting, the trustees will hear presentations from two firms that will conduct the national search for a new superintendent.

According to its proposal, Omaha, Neb.-based McPherson & Jacobson would charge “an amount not to exceed” $29,800.

Glendora, Calif.-based Leadership Associates—which conducted the previous search when Rodriguez was hired—would charge $26,500. 

The trustees will make their choice during their July 12 meeting.

Rodriguez’s departure comes about three years after the board fired her in a 4-3 vote, a move that was unanimously overturned four days later after hundreds of community members voiced their disapproval over two marathon meetings. 

The trustees who voted in favor—Georgia Acosta, Jennifer Schacher, Oscar Soto and Daniel Dodge, Jr.—have never publicly given an explanation for the decision.

Rodriguez says the termination played no part in her decision to leave.

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Meeting details

PVUSD Board of Trustees meeting

7pm, June 28

District Office Boardroom, 292 Green Valley Road