Socorro Shiels signs $204K contract with Sonoma Valley Unified School District

The Sonoma Valley Unified School District has a new superintendent.

Socorro Shiels signed a three-year contract with the district Wednesday morning.

Shiels was offered the contract, in a 3-2 vote, by the school board at its May 8 meeting.

The contract calls for Shiels to be paid $203,751 a year for a 225-day year with a step on the salary schedule each year. She will also receive $400 a month car allowance. The contract also calls for a 12-month “golden parachute” in the event she is terminated.

Shiels replaces Chuck Young, who took the reins of the district for the past year on an interim basis after former Superintendent Louann Carlomagno resigned last June.

The 46-year-old Shiels was superintendent of Sonoma County’s largest school district, Santa Rosa City Schools, from 2012 to January 2016.

The board was set to hire Shiels at the April meeting, but the hire was pushed back to the May meeting when a brouhaha erupted over the proposed contract.

The original contract called for a salary of $225,000, which would have made Shiels the highest-paid school superintendent in Sonoma County - and that includes Steven Herrington, the Sonoma County superintendent of schools who makes $217,000 a year.

Former Superintendent Carlomagno was scheduled to make $186,858 this year.

Only two other superintendents in the county make more than $200,000 – Santa Rosa, with 14,346 students, will pay its superintendent $201,200 this year, while Cotati-Rohnert Park, with 5,557 students, will pay its superintendent $204,662 this year. Sonoma has 3,946 students.

The proposed contract also included a per diem of $1,004 a day for five days in April and 10 days in May for services rendered and a $10,000 one-time tuition reimbursement for earning her doctoral degree.

Boardmembers Sal Chavez and Nicole Ducarroz were appointed to re-negotiate the contract which the board approved at its May 8 meeting.

In a statement released by the school district Wednesday, Shiels said, “It is an honor to be the superintendent of Sonoma Valley Unified School District. I look forward to listening and learning from the students, parents, teachers and community. Together, we will plan for our future.

“Over the next couple of weeks, throughout the summer and new school year, I will be visiting and meeting people to understand the aspirations and dreams of our community so that we may collaboratively create that path for shared success,” she continued. “We will restore relationships and grow trust across the district. The educational experiences in our classrooms are the most important aspect of our district, and my focus will be around the best outcomes for students and the best conditions for teaching and learning.”

School board President Britta Johnson said the district will have an official “meet and greet” at a yet to be determined date.

“She is starting with a few per diem days visiting sites and meeting with employees at all levels,” Johnson said.

Shiels was also planning to attend Senior Projects on Thursday at the high school.