Schools to ink interim head, review facilities

Board chief want to ‘slow down ... take a breath’|

A contract with the interim superintendent and another look at facilities are on the agenda when the Sonoma Valley Unified School District board meets Monday afternoon in a special session.

The board is set to vote on the contract with former UCLA Chancellor Charles Young to become the district’s interim superintendent for the next year while it conducts a search for a permanent superintendent. Young will replace former Superintendent Louann Carlomagno who resigned last month.

Young will work on a part-time basis. A draft contract calls for the district to pay him $74,400 for 89 days, and includes a per diem if he works more than 89 days.

Board President Dan Gustafson said he doesn’t anticipate any holdups in the contract. Young, who is on vacation, won’t be back in Sonoma until Sunday, and if the board approves the contract, will start on Tuesday, July 11.

The board will also take another look at the Master Plans for the district’s campuses.

Last month, the board set priorities and broke up the $120 million from Measure E, which voters approved in November, into four bond sales, three years apart. The first sale would be for $40 million, the second in 2020 and third in 2023 would be $30 million apiece, and the fourth in 2026 would be for $20 million.

Among the big-ticket items on the first sale would be a gym, locker room and performing arts venue at Adele Harrison ($3.5 million); and all-weather track at Altimira ($3.5 million); a multi-purpose room at Woodland Star ($2.95 million) and new classrooms at Sonoma Charter ($1.2 million).

Sonoma Valley High has four big-ticket items in the first round: library improvements ($1.5 million) , ag farm improvements ($1.1 million), career and technical shops ($3.46 million), and the fitness and well-being fields ($9.56 million). The pool ($7.88 million) at the high school has been tentatively pushed back to the 2020 bond sale

Every school in the district will receive Master Plan projects from the first bond sale.

Gustafson said the board won’t take any action on the proposals until the Aug. 8 board meeting.

“We need more information on how the logistics are shaping up,” he said. “We need to talk with Steve Kwok (the district’s architect) and Tenaya Dale (from Counterpoint Construction) to see what their timeline is.”

The district has also received a letter from some neighbors of the high school who are concerned with the stadium project.

“We’re going to take a breath and look at everything again,” Gustafson said. “With all that’s been going on, we’re trying to deal with too much too fast.”

Gustafson was referring to the abrupt departure of Carlomagno, the search for an interim superintendent and looking at how to divvy up the bond projects.

“We just need to slow down,” he added. “The worst thing we can do is to rush it.”

The board meeting, which is open to the public, will be held at 5:30 p.m. Monday, July 10, in the district offices, 17850 Railroad Ave., Sonoma.

Email Bill at bill.hoban@sonomanews.com.

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