US News and World report ranked schools in California and the nation. Piedmont High School ranked 22nd in California.
Read the ranking criteria and results by clicking the link below:
May 13, 2015
The Piedmont School District’s attorney stated that by the Boricas decision the only uniform rate tax permitted was a flat rate on every parcel. This is the most regressive possible tax structure. The Piedmont School Support Tax is by far the most expensive in the state and is more than double to one hundred times higher than any other school tax. The high expense, flat rate and lack of a low income based senior exemption means the Piedmont tax is financially difficult for many young families, the less affluent, and those on a fixed income. The previous tiered tax structure was somewhat progressive, but every legal opinion states the tiered structure is illegal, as it taxes the same square foot differently for each tier, and is not a uniform rate by the Boricas decision.
On June 5, 2003 the Emery Unified School District (“USD” Emeryville) passed a School support tax based solely on square foot per building. Renewed in 2007 and 2009, the tax was up for renewal again in 2014. Emery USD relied on their highly regarded legal counsel of Fagan, Friedman, Fulfrost, LLP; yes, this is the same law firm used by Piedmont USD. To be as secure from litigation as possible, Emery USD also sought legal review from Attorney Harold Frieman of Lozano, Smith, an expert in school tax challenges and Boricas. He is familiar to many, as the City of Piedmont used Mr. Frieman’s services creating the PRFO Blair Park EIR.
Confident in the legal advice they received from two sources, the Emeryville Board placed the renewal of their building square footage tax on the November 7, 2014 ballot. Measure K passed with 86% approval and imposes “fifteen cents of building area per square foot” for 20 years. Significantly, no one including Boricas attorney David Brilliant has legally challenged any of the per square foot taxes of Emery USD. Mr. Brilliant filed a number of other lawsuits against School Districts after his successful Boricas litigation. All suits filed by Mr. Brilliant are on behalf of commercial property owners and concern non-uniform taxation; the Emeryville tax is a single uniform rate for all. The many Emeryville commercial businesses have large school tax bills and ample legal budgets, yet no lawsuit is filed.
No emergency existed that forced the Piedmont Unified School District to levy the most regressive tax in the state with a mere 24 hour notice when the existing tax had 18 months to run. At taxpayer expense, the District issued a letter stating 30% of teachers would be let go if the tax didn’t pass; this fear tactic was patently false considering the time remained on the existing tax. At the same time in Emeryville, a progressive per square foot tax happily existed unchallenged, a tax reviewed by the same law firm that the Piedmont District uses.
Perhaps our School Board was not given complete information, or another agenda was in place, or the legal landscape has firmed up concerning Borikas. Regardless, the regret expressed by some Board members about imposing the very regressive Piedmont tax can now be corrected with a per square foot of building tax.
Rick Schiller, taxpayer
Editors’ Note: Opinions expressed are those of the author.
Piedmont’s School Support Tax
Piedmont’s current school tax is perfectly legal, but is an unfair tax because (1) it increased the tax on smaller lots while reducing the tax on larger lots, and (2) because owners of two-parcel lots pay twice as much as others. This tax was hastily approved for the ballot by the School Board at a Special Meeting two years ago following a State Appeals Court ruling that school taxes must apply uniformly to all taxpayers.
I am proposing a more equitable replacement tax based on the Alameda Unified School District’s successful tax that, with minor changes, is also perfectly legal.
Alameda’s tax is a uniform rate per square foot of building that applies to all taxpayers without regard to size or use of parcel. It was approved more than three years ago by Alameda voters and remains intact to this day. Owners of residential and commercial properties pay in proportion to the size of buildings, which favors the smaller over the larger, the reverse of Piedmont’s regressive tax.
Given the economic vitality of this community, it is unconscionable that we raise more money for our schools from the owners of small lots than from the owners of large lots. There is time now to place a measure on the June 2016 ballot that will enable this “Alameda-like” tax to become effective in Piedmont for FY2016-17, but only if our School Board delays no longer an open public process with unbiased information.
William Blackwell
Editors’ Note: Opinions expressed are those of the author.
School Board Meeting of April 22, 2015
by Piedmont High School student Claire O’Connor –
On April 22, 2015, the School Board gathered (as they do bi-monthly) to talk about issues concerning the K-12 schools in the Piedmont Unified School District.
The major issues discussed at this particular meeting concerned several main topics: the Piedmont Educational Foundation Endowment Fund for 2015-2016, the new weight training and fitness class at Piedmont High School (PHS), the parcel tax adjustments necessary for upcoming years, the approval of sending out “RFP’s” or Request for Proposals for district facilities, Piedmont Bonds, an “internship” program to help train educators, and other problems brought forth by members of the audience.
Mary Ireland was in the audience, but spoke representing the Piedmont Educational Foundation Endowment Fund. This year, she announced, they will be giving $275,000 from the endowment to the schools in the district. Additionally, the endowment has almost accumulated 6 million dollars.
Assistant Superintendent, Randy Booker, announced that Piedmont now offers, and will continue to offer, a weight training & fitness class as a Physical Education class offering for upperclassmen at PHS. Piedmont High School’s Principal, Brent Daniels, stepped in to further elaborate on this class and noted that this class will teach students the skills necessary to maintain fitness throughout the rest of their lives while also learning how to avoid injury. He also said that this course was not an option for freshmen. Robbie Diaz also commented from the audience that this class had been extremely beneficial to him and has helped his health and other aspects of his life in a multitude of ways.
Assistant Superintendent, Randy Booker, announced that Piedmont now offers, and will continue to offer, a weight training & fitness class as a Physical Education class offering for upperclassmen at PHS. Piedmont High School’s Principal, Brent Daniels, stepped in to further elaborate on this class and noted that this class will teach students the skills necessary to maintain fitness throughout the rest of their lives while also learning how to avoid injury. He also said that this course was not an option for freshmen. Robbie Diaz also commented from the audience that this class had been extremely beneficial to him and has helped his health and other aspects of his life in a multitude of ways.
Tam Hege and Gautam Wadhwani gave a very thorough overview and pros & cons list of the proposed increased levy of the “Support” or parcel tax (Measure A) for the school system. Apparently, because the State is not funding Piedmont schools nearly enough, and will not for potentially up to 6 years from now, we need to increase the tax by approximately $49.00 per parcel. This would allow us to have a more comfortable reserve and would allow us to be more flexible in paying unforeseen costs.
Michael Brady, also an Assistant Superintendent, asked for approval of sending out RFP’s to architectural firms. He hopes to get estimated costs from interested firms within the next month. He also noted that this does not come out of the District’s General Fund. He also spoke later in the meeting that there were many investors interested in Piedmont bonds, and that our bonds have never had higher ratings, so therefore, we are in a really good place.
Superintendent Constance Hubbard shared her idea that Piedmont should get interns for our district. That way, we would have better access to fully qualified educators by having them trained & ready by our amazing teachers.
From the audience, Arthur Weil, a WW2 veteran wants to come to our schools and share his story and was not getting his calls returned by Principal Brent Daniels, so he thought this was a better way of getting his message across. Luke Smith wants the teachers at PHS to create a master schedule to help organize and coordinate with each other. Sofia Mills would like the school to be careful about how PHS uses water, and would like for the school to stop selling plastic water bottles. Apryl Hsu wanted to call attention to the lack of parking availability for PHS students who commute to school everyday. Abby Hansen asked for more trash, compost, and recycling bins around the PHS campus to help stop the ongoing littering problem. Mr. Blackwell, who came to a previous meeting requested a reform in the support tax system, and claimed that a much more equitable form of taxing would be based on a home’s square footage.
I also interviewed Assistant Superintendent Randy Booker. He was at this meeting because he is required to be present. He brings up issues surrounding curriculum instruction; for example, the weight training curriculum, and teacher evaluation issues. Once he brings up his problems, the School Board can then choose to act collectively as the School Board.
– Piedmont High School student Sophia Mills reports on Piedmont Education Foundation grant, Piedmont Unified School District financial issues, Measure A Tax increase, and interviews three School Board members.-
On April 22 at 7:00 p.m., the School Board, responsible for the Piedmont Unified School District, met for one of their biweekly regular meetings. On the second and fourth Wednesday of each month, this board of individuals meets in the Council Chambers of Piedmont’s City Hall in order to both assess the current state of the schools in Piedmont and to ensure that they are performing and running to the fullest of their ability. At this particular meeting, the most important agenda items consisted of discussing the Piedmont Educational Foundation (PEF) Endowment Fund for 2015-16, approving a Request for Proposal (RFP) for Facilities Master Planning services, and deciding the amount of the School Support Tax, Measure A, to be levied in 2015-16.
With regard to the Endowment Fund for the upcoming academic year, there were two key announcements made at the meeting. First, PEF member Mary Ireland announced that due to the growing and healthy nature of the nearly 6 million dollar Endowment, the PEF will provide a $275,000 grant to the schools in 2015-16. Second, Ireland announced a proposal to merge the PEF with the Association of Piedmont Parent Clubs (APCP) so that they may share fundraising responsibilities in the future.
After the members of the School Board unanimously voted in favor of this merger, Ireland announced the plans the PEF and the APCP have for this upcoming year’s grant, which is $25,000 higher than the grant that was awarded last year. Currently, the plans are for the additional money being granted this year to go toward computer science programs and for the rest of the money to go toward maintaining library facilities, counseling services, electives at the middle school level, and the seven-period day at the high school.
Following this discussion and a brief reading of the new Weight Training and Fitness course to be offered at the high school next year, Assistant Superintendent Michael Brady announced an RFP the PUSD plans to release regarding Facilities Master Planning services. According to Brady, the District wants community input before deciding on how best to improve the infrastructure and long-term safety and accessibility of the schools in Piedmont. Brady expects that they will receive responses from several architectural firms before the next School Board meeting, and after a question from Board member Amal Smith, it became clear that these proposals will be presented to the School Board, but will be reviewed by a separate facilities committee. Additionally, Brady made sure to point out that the funds for this project will not be from the general community, but rather will come from the remainder of the money from a past bond program that dealt with modernization.
Although both of the main aforementioned issues also dealt with financial issues, the public hearing regarding Measure A was easily the most contentious issue brought up at the meeting. Because it is written into Measure A that the additional percentage to levy the tax must be determined on a yearly basis, the discussion regarding the upcoming 2015-16 academic year began with a recommendation from a committee of community members dedicated to investigating the financial health of the District. They recommended that the tax should be levied at the maximum level of an additional 2%, which is expected to yield an additional $191,747 in revenue and to leave a total of $9,724,121 collected during the upcoming year. The committee suggested this levy because they want to save the extra money in the District’s reserves. Somewhat shockingly, the School Board unanimously approved this increased levy after hearing just a short summary from the committee, citing voluntary sacrifice by community members as necessary to maintain our schools’ excellence.
Almost immediately after their vote, however, Mr. William Blackwell, a community member, took the podium to protest the tax. He attacked Measure A and proposed a new tax be proposed based on the size of each citizen’s taxable parcel instead of on a uniform level. This began an entire debate between Blackwell and Board Member Rick Raushenbush, who, as an attorney, reviewed the idea of a differential tax rate, which was evidently found unconstitutional after one such system in Alameda was challenged. According to a conversation with both Doug Ireland and Raushenbush after the meeting, this was not the first time that Mr. Blackwell had voiced his outrage toward Measure A. Thus, although it appeared rather surprising that the Board was allowed to forbid someone from voicing their opinion at a public meeting, it turned out that because Blackwell was raising an entirely new issue, he was allowed to be silenced during the meeting.
I find it strange that the Board approved the increase in taxes immediately, solely based on the idea that our funding from the state will be uncertain in the future, which seems as though it would be true whether or not taxes were increased. However, I appreciate the Board’s continued dedication to improving the quality of life for students of Piedmont schools. After all, as Board Member Sarah Pearson told me after the meeting, it is the chance to improve and protect student well-being that encourages her–and others like her–to become involved with the School Board in the first place.
– The Piedmont Unified School District announces Jennifer Fox is the 2015 Arthur Hecht Volunteer of the Year. –
Jennifer Fox was chosen for the many photographs she has taken of school activities including: 4th of July parades; football and lacrosse games; PHS homecomings; debate team tournaments; the Birdhouse and CHIME galas; Diversity Day; Fall Fest and PHS graduation.
This award is presented annually to individuals who have volunteered their efforts over a period of time and made a difference because of their involvement and commitment to Piedmont’s youth.
Following are the previous recipients: Hunter McCreary (1998); Ann Chandler (1999); Ruth Cuming (2000); Lisa Lomenzo (2001); jointly by Cathie Geddeis and Marion Souyoultzis (2002); jointly by Fritz and Mary Wooster (2003); Elizabeth (Betsy) Gentry (2004); Cynthia Gorman (2005); Grier Graff (2006); Julia Burke (2007); Maude Pervere (2008); jointly to Anne‐Marie Lamarche and Mark Menke (2009); Janiele Maffei Tovani (2010); Andrea Swenson (2011), June Monach (2012), Bill Drum (posthumously) and Mary Ireland (2013), and Ray Perman (2014).
Art Hecht was a tireless community volunteer, and was dedicated to students in both Piedmont and Oakland. He served on Piedmont’s Board of Education from 1970 to 1982. Art also was very active with the Piedmont Continuation High School (now called Millennium High School). In 1998, the Art Hecht Volunteer of the Year Award was established in his memory.
The award will be presented at the May 13 Board of Education meeting.
Robbie Diaz reports:
The Piedmont Unified School District Board of Education discussed several key topics on the night of April 22. The government body, which meets on the second and fourth Wednesdays of each month, only met once in April, no doubt due to the spring break observed by the school district.
The meeting started with an overview of Piedmont High School events by Student Representative Claire O’Connor. O’Connor mentioned past and upcoming events like spring break, the bird calling contest, prom, day on the green. and ASB election week. Most of these events were only mentioned by name, with most of the time spent covering the standings of the various sports teams.
After that, the Board gave time for anyone to bring up business not on the agenda. A long-term resident, Arthur Weil, started with an overview of his family’s history, telling the Board about his kids and grandkids who live in Piedmont. His issue that he brought to the Board was that he was supposed to be a speaker of some sort for the schools, but failed to have proper communication with the High School administration, preventing him from speaking. While the Board made no comment, High School Principal Brent Daniels briefly addressed the issue when he came up to speak later in the meeting, saying he would try to improve communication between the administration and guest speakers.
The rest of the speakers were High School senior students bringing forward ideas. Luke Smith suggested a master schedule for the high school, allowing teachers to coordinate large assignments and projects to be spread out. Sophia Mills advocated conservation in water usage, such as no longer watering the lawns and plants on campus. Assistant Superintendent for Business Services Michael Brady responded that since Governor Jerry Brown’s official announcement of California’s drought status, the city has been cutting back water usage across the board.
Apryl Hsu suggested making a system for student parking, as the city has recently taken away spots by turning them from parking zones to loading zones. Hsu’s primary argument would be that specified student parking would free up the residential streets around the campus that are bumper to bumper with student cars.
Finally, Abby Hansen suggested adding more trash, compost, and recycling bins on campus in order to address the large amount of trash left by students. Assistant Superintendent of Educational Services Randall Booker said that he would meet with the custodial staff to find locations for new bins, reassuring the Board that the bins are cheap enough to leave no impact on the budget.
Board President Andrea Swenson announced the upcoming Parent Information Night for parents of kindergarteners, jokingly reminding parents to leave their kids at home. Also, Sunday, April 26, the Fire Department will hold an open house, displaying their new fire engine, as well as focus on fire prevention strategies during drought periods.
Mary Ireland, President of the Ed Foundation, addressed the Piedmont Educational Foundation available endowment funds. The Board approved a grant of $275,000 for the schools, to be used for supporting the k-12 program, 7 period class days, and a focus on computer science curriculums.
Brent Daniels, Piedmont High School Principal, read the course outline for the new course Weight Training and Fitness. The course will promote an interest in lifelong fitness, teaching students about the dos and don’ts of proper body care, as well as building skills in both weight training and free weights. Scheduling wise, the new course will replace one semester of the upper division PE. I spoke on the issue, supporting the class, as I took the upper division PE course and found the time in that class spent on body fitness to be the most rewarding. A course focusing on personal health, especially in a town dominated by rigorous scholastic pursuits. which is sedentary by nature, is no doubt invaluable to the community. The Board seemed to enjoy positive student feedback, and appreciated my comments.
The biggest and most debated issue on the agenda was the decision to levy an additional 2% on the Measure A Tax, created to support the schools. Tam Hege and Guatem Hatuwati presented the board with packets thoroughly covering the speculated yield the levy would create, along with suggesting saving 4% of the total tax revenue in the District reserve. Ed: 2%, comment below
Opposing not only the levy, but Measure A all together, was Mr. Bill Blackwell who, judging by his exchanges with the board, had been to numerous meetings to bring up the idea of a replacement tax for Measure A. While he referenced a new tax policy being adopted by Alameda County, the Board refused to acknowledge alternate tax plans, as they had been advised by legal professionals not to alter Measure A.
Blackwell would not back down, arguing that the tax was unfair to citizens of Piedmont who didn’t have children or grandchildren in the school system. Eventually, the Board had to stand firmly on the grounds that advocating for a new tax measure, in light of the significant fighting that went on for Measure A in the first place, would not be worth anyone’s time nor energy.
The Board then looked at an RFP for the high school campus. The RFP was approved on Board goal 6, “to invest and preserve school facilities”. The proposal looks to develop long term safety and accessibility around campus. The only concern, raised by Board member Doug Ireland, was how construction would affect the already chaotic morning drop-off, but the Board was confident that they could work with the city to find a solution down the line.
Finally, Superintendent Hubbard recommended the certification of the Declaration of Need for Fully Qualified Educators. The Declaration allows the district to employ a teacher that is training for a given subject, if no other suitable candidates can be found. I spoke on this issue as well, for clarification, before the Board motioned for its approval.
After the meeting was over, I met with Assistant Superintendent for Educational Services Randall Booker for a quick interview. Booker deals with issues surrounding curriculum instruction, like the weight training class from earlier in the meeting. In the future, Booker faces not only addressing a new teacher evaluation system, but also taking Hubbard’s place as Superintendent of the District.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Report on the School Board Meeting- April 22nd, 2015 by Apryl Hsu
The Piedmont Unified School District Board of Education is comprised of nine members. At every meeting the Board President, Vice President, three Board members, Superintendent, Assistant Superintendents, and Student Representative are present. The Board members discuss issues concerning the various schools in Piedmont. The Board meets the second and fourth Wednesdays at 7 p.m at the City Hall Council Chambers.
The meeting held on April 22, 2015 had two major topics; one, was the introduction of a new weight training and fitness class, the other was a proposed levy of the current school support tax, known as Measure A. During the meeting, every Board member spoke multiple times, whether it be to ask a question or speak in favor of a particular issue. Aside from the many high school students at the meeting, there were also concerned citizens. Many of the high school students spoke in the beginning of the meeting to address their concerns about the school.
Three citizens spoke to the Board about [a proposed 2% increase in the parcel tax] Measure A. Two were in favor of the 2% increase, while Mr. Bill Blackwell, spoke against the increase and the Measure.
Measure A funds many of the schools programs and is essential in maintaining the quality of the Piedmont School District. The measure provides 9.5 million dollars for the schools and this is possible because Measure A created a uniform tax per parcel. Everyone from the community contributes the same amount of money to the school which is beneficial to the students and the teachers. Mr. Blackwell was a citizen that spoke against Measure A.
As a student at Piedmont High School, I support Measure A and believe that it should be put into full swing. It allows the high school to keep its teachers and continue funding into the music program, and many other classes special to Piedmont High School.
Mr. Daniels, Principal of Piedmont High School, was present at the School Board meeting to propose a new class for the high school. “In order for a class to become valid, the Board has to approve it” says Daniels. “It’s all part of the process”. At the meeting, Mr. Daniels hoped to receive feedback from the Board and hopefully the proposal will go through to a second reading.
At the beginning of the meeting when members of the public could speak, I brought up the subject of parking at the high school. Due to the small amount of spots available and many student drivers, it is very hard to find parking for the school day. I suggested to the School Board that they should issue parking passes making mornings a lot easier for many students. I mentioned my personal experiences with parking in the morning and Mr. Booker took notes agreeing with my suggestion to issue parking passes. The School Board meeting adjourned two hours later, making it a short meeting.
The League of Women Voters (LWV) of Piedmont’s Annual Meeting will be on Friday, May 8, and feature guest speaker David Sapp, Director of Education Advocacy for the ACLU of California. Sapp will discuss Common Core, Local Control Funding Formula for school districts, charter schools, school facilities and more.
The meeting agenda begins at 10 a.m., and the speaker will be at 11:30 a.m. Lunch tickets are $25/advance and $30/door. There is no charge to attend just the meeting and speaker at the home of Sue Smegal, 107 King Avenue.
On Wednesday, March 11, I attended a School Board meeting at City Hall, which is held every second and fourth Wednesdays of every month. The purpose of the meeting was to go over new courses for the high school, budgets and to hear from the community and any concerns or input about the education system in Piedmont.
During the meeting the main issues addressed were the new middle school and high school pathways for mathematics. Randall Booker, the head of the new program proposal, emphasized how students can choose new pathways that suit them academically and in a way that makes approaching math courses a more comfortable process regarding their understanding and maturity. Included in the new course pathways is a Summer School option where students can take a course in four weeks over the summer, 3 hours a day, contrary to many other summer courses elsewhere that can take up to 6 weeks.
Doug Ireland, one of the board members, wasn’t in favor for the summer program because of feedback from other summer programs at Piedmont and how few students enroll. He was also concerned it would be a waste of the School District’s money and harm the budget. However, all of the other board members were in favor of the summer program.
Andrea Swenson, another board member, loved how there are so many options for students and because there are so many different types of students, this program will try to relieve some of that stress that Piedmont is notorious for putting on their students.
However, I would be concerned it would put more pressure on students to take the “harder path” or the more advanced pathways because their parents want them to get to a higher level of math quicker or because that is what students feel is expected of them, not because they feel as if they are ready to challenge themselves. I also think that it could possibly make choosing classes more difficult not only for the students but for the counselors as well; the more specialty classes the harder it becomes to figure out schedules for all of the students. Booker also mentioned that support classes are built into the budget, meaning that students have the option of self study, and that there is no requirement to take summer courses to get into calculus AB.
Another large topic was the proposal for a new set of computer science classes. High School Principal Brent Daniels spoke about redesigning the computer course to make the class more relevant, including new subjects such as robotics, web design, computer applications and more. Mr. Mattix, the computer sciences teacher spoke about creating a mobile apps development course, which was suggested by the parent community. The course would be at college level, a 5 unit course, and made for more advanced students looking to challenge themselves. The University of San Francisco has offered to help with the development of the class and try to make it a possible AP course.
A couple other topics were brought up by some people in the audience as well. One woman, she did not state her name, was representing the Parent Clubs and talked about the recent visit WASC paid to the school. It was reported that WASC was extremely pleased by the school and specifically with the new bell schedule, they also highlighted the Wellness Center and how important they thought it was to give support to the students.
The Parent Clubs also reported on creating a mini fundraiser for the teachers lounge because they have felt that it is outdated and has become a storage area.
My interviewee, Ms. Betsy Anderson, Recreation Commissioner, came to the board meeting to encourage people to take a survey on the Piedmont Recreation Department. She said that the Recreation Department is open to all feedback and they want to know what programs are being used the most and if there is more that they can offer to the community for example programming for adults. She said that she has already sent emails out to many in the community, but she just wanted the school board and those at the meeting to take the survey so that the recreational department can get more information about what the community particularly enjoys having around.
The School Board meeting touched on a number of other subjects such as the School District budget, recent activities of the high school students, such as Camp Everytown and much more.
Many parents and teachers are already familiar with the next Piedmont Unified School District Superintendent –
At their March 25, 2015 meeting, the Piedmont Board of Education announced their selection of Randall “Randy” Booker to be Piedmont’s new Superintendent of Schools. Randy Booker currently serves as Assistant Superintendent for Educational Services, and was previously the Principal at Piedmont High School.
Booker will assume the position of Superintendent on July 1, 2015. His salary will be $212,000 per year plus the same benefits provided to other District employees.
Board President Andrea Swenson detailed the exhaustive selection process and numerous interviews leading to the Board’s “clear choice” of Booker. In the Council Chambers filled with teachers, parents, Council members and others, the Booker announcement was received with loud and prolonged applause.
Booker spoke briefly, noting his appreciation for being selected and welcoming the opportunity ahead of him. He told of wanting to keep moving forward with District progress and his desire to increase communication with the community, teachers, and students.
Randall Booker
Below is the District Press Release:
PIEDMONT UNIFIED SCHOOL DISTRICT
From the Board of Education
760 Magnolia Avenue, Piedmont, CA 94611
Piedmont’s Board of Education is pleased to announce the appointment of the next Superintendent of schools, Randall Booker. Randy Booker currently serves as Assistant Superintendent for Educational Services, and previously served as Principal at Piedmont High School. Mr. Booker will begin serving as Superintendent starting on July 1, 2015.
The process of selecting the next Superintendent was truly a community effort. The Board of Education is grateful to all of the over 400 students, parents, educators, administrators, and community members who contributed their ideas and opinions to the search process. Their input was an invaluable guide for the Board in the process to reaching a unanimous agreement on this appointment.
This input indicated that the next Superintendent must have a clear vision of how to build on Piedmont’s legacy of educational excellence, and the proven skills and experience to implement effective change. The input also provided a blueprint for the role of the Superintendent: to listen to and effectively represent the interests of all constituents; to foster a positive professional climate of mutual trust and respect among staff and administrators; to recruit and retain highly qualified personnel; and to effectively plan and manage the long-term financial health of the District.
The Board conducted a nation-wide search and received 45 applications for the Superintendent position that included several exceptional applicants. The Board interviewed seven candidates, and conducted additional interviews with three finalists. The Board sought the most qualified candidate who is the best match for this District. After a thorough search and selection process, and in consideration of substantial input received from the community, the Board unanimously concluded that the clear choice for Piedmont is Randall Booker. The Board found that Mr. Booker has a unique combination of experience, skills, and values that will serve and enhance opportunities for all of our students. Also, the Board was impressed with Randy’s dedication to listen to all viewpoints, solve problems, and communicate effectively with all stakeholders. It is not surprising that Mr. Booker is already well-known and well-respected among many in the Piedmont community.
Mr. Booker’s vision as Superintendent for the Piedmont schools includes:
- A renewed, broad, and inclusive community engagement concerning District goals and priorities, including dialogue with students, parents, educators, and staff.
- An exemplary 21st century education that is rigorously inquiry-driven, learner-centered, and sensitive to the social/emotional needs of our students.
- A relevant and coordinated professional learning plan, across all educational programs, designed to foster a growth mindset that builds capacity in each of our educators.
- A comprehensive facilities review that addresses the need for updated, flexible learning spaces and needed improvements to the appearance of District facilities and grounds.
- A Local Control Accountability Plan that strategically directs educational program and promotes a balanced budget through the continued partnerships of our community and educators.
The Board is grateful to all who contributed their ideas and opinions to the search process, and helped guide the Board in making this appointment. Randall Booker will succeed Superintendent Constance Hubbard, who has served as Piedmont’s Superintendent for more than 12 years. Some of Connie’s most notable accomplishments include: attracting, retaining and developing outstanding educators and staff; shepherding the District through an unprecedented State-wide educational funding crisis; modernizing technology infrastructure; and completing, on time and on budget, seismic safety improvements to all school facilities.
Learn more about Booker.
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