High School Principal Daniels to Abruptly Leave School District
Unexpectedly, High School Principal Brent Daniels is resigning his position mid-year for an administrative position in the Berkeley Unified School District. Daniels last day in the Piedmont Unified School District (PUSD) will be January 27, 2017. At the January 24, 2017 School Board meeting, Assistant Principals Eric Mapes, and Irma Muñoz are expected to be appointed by the Board of Education as Co-Interim Principals of Piedmont High School (January 30th – June 30th) for the remainder of the 2nd semester of the 2016 – 2017 school year.
The recruitment process to fill the position of Piedmont High School (PHS) principal is noted below.
~~~~~~ PRESS RELEASE ~~~~~~~
January 12, 2017 –
On January 11, 2017, Mr. Brent Daniels was appointed as the new Director of Human Resources in the Berkeley Unified School District. Berkeley Unified is a remarkable fit for Mr. Daniels as he resides in Berkeley, he and his children attended Berkeley schools, and his father was a teacher, coach, and administrator in Berkeley Unified.
Principal Daniels helped usher in a focus on the social and emotional health of students. His efforts resulted in a dedicated partnership with Challenge Success, a new bell schedule that allows for more sleep, and increased capacity at the Wellness Center, both in student-led outreach programs and interns to address student concerns. He worked with staff to create an instructional calendar that moved final exams prior to the Winter Break, and he instituted a 9:30 p.m. curfew on all extracurricular activities. Brent also responded to student and community concerns to provide a gender-neutral Senior Celebration and a gender-neutral graduation.
Principal Daniels also provided key leadership in the implementation of the Common Core Math Standards, pathways, and curriculum, and assisted in developing additional Computer Science and World Language courses.
“While this is a tremendous loss for PUSD, I wish to congratulate Principal Daniels on this exciting new chapter in his professional life. I want to express a tremendous amount of thanks for his dedication and leadership of Piedmont High School for the past 4 years,” said Superintendent Booker.
Principal Daniels’ last day at Piedmont High School is Friday, January 27th.
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On January 24th, the PUSD Board of Education will be asked to ratify the Superintendent’s recommendation to appoint both Mr. Mapes and Ms. Muñoz as Co-Interim Principals of Piedmont High School (January 30th – June 30th) for the remainder of the 2nd semester.
“I have complete faith and full confidence in both Ms. Muñoz and Mr. Mapes and their ability to provide the needed leadership to carry the school through this transition. I am so proud of Piedmont High School and its staff and student community and know that as a team of educators, families, and students, we will have a fantastic 2nd semester,” said Booker.
The District will facilitate a process to advertise, interview, and select a new PHS Principal for the 2017- 18 school year.
Selection Process for PHS Principal
Advertising the position:
The advertising of a Principal position across the country is facilitated via local, state and national papers/sites, including colleges and universities and school districts. ACSA (Association of California School Administrators) produces a broadly distributed and well-read publication called the Ed-CAL where all districts publish job postings.
The District will publish the position posting on February 1st on Edjoin.org. Below is a link to the position brochure that will be sent to colleges, universities, county offices of education, and school districts across the state.
https://drive.google.com/open?id=0B-vdk-LUzFEkY1pzcjRKY0pfYTg
Due date for applications: March 10, 2017. This allows for our position advertisement to occur in the Ed-Cal on the following dates: February 6, 13, 27, & March 6.
Community Engagement
It is important that our community of educators, students, and families have an opportunity to provide the District with input as to the desired traits and educational vision of the next PHS Principal.The Superintendent will meet with administrators, staff, parents, and students during the month of February to gather their input as to the desired traits and educational vision of the next PHS Principal.
PUSD Admin Team: February 7, 2017 – 9 am Admin Team Meeting PHS Staff: February 10, 2017 – 8:00 am PHS Staff Meeting
PHS Students: February 15, 2017 – 3:30 pm
Parents: February 15, 2017 – 7 pm
Recognizing that not all families, staff, and students can/will attend the input meetings, the District will also develop an online survey/feedback tool for all constituents to be able to provide input as to the traits and educational vision desired in our next PHS Principal.
The input gathered from these meetings and the online survey/feedback tool will be provided to the PUSD Board of Education and the Interview Committee.
Interview Process
The first round of interviews will include representatives from teachers, classified staff, administrators, students, parents, and 2 Board Members:(1) Superintendent
(5) PHS Teachers
(2) PHS Classified Staff
(2) PHS Students
(1) Director
(2) School Site Administrators (5) PHS Parents
(2) Board Members
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20 MembersThe District will work with the PHS Parents’ Club President to determine which parents serve on the committee. The District will also work with union leadership to determine which teachers and classified staff serve on the committee. Lastly, we will collaborate with the PHS Associated Student Body (ASB) Leadership Class to determine which 2 students serve on the committee.
This first interview will occur on March 21st.
At the end of the 1st round of interviews, the committee will make a recommendation to the Superintendent of their top candidates.
The District will schedule a 2nd round of interviews for the top candidates to meet with the Superintendent. The Board of Education will also interview the top candidates and may perform a site visit.
The target date for a final decision by the Board of Education is April 26, 2017. This will provide adequate time for a positive transition in preparation of the start date of July 1, 2017.
Superintendent Randall Booker
