At the April 21 meeting of the Windsor Unified School District Board of Trustees, the board voted to approve the contract that would bring Jeremy Decker to the district as the new superintendent starting July 1. Current superintendent Brandon Krueger announced his retirement earlier this year. The meeting was conducted over Zoom and livestreamed on Facebook.
Decker is the current superintendent of Cloverdale Unified School District, a position he’s held for six years.
The search process, according to WUSD board president Eric Heitz, was conducted with assistance from the Sonoma County Office of Education, headed up by associate superintendent John Laughlin.
“We had 22 applicants for the position, and we narrowed that list down with ratings and paper screenings,” said Heitz. “We then did interviews with two panels, a stakeholder group with 18 people from the community, who interviewed the four (final) candidates on a Saturday, then the trustees had them later the same day. The board then brought two candidates back on Sunday to meet with the trustees again.”
However, when Heitz called for the motion to vote to approve the contract, trustee George Valenzuela announced he would not be voting in favor of approving the contract due to financial concerns for the district.
“I mean no disrespect for Mr. Decker, he’s a fine person and I know he’ll do a good job for us, but $200,000 is a lot of money for a superintendent in our district. We have a lot of financial issues, teachers and administrators are underpaid, so from strictly a fiscal point of view I am going to be voting no on this item,” he said.
However, vice president Stephanie Ahmad presented a different viewpoint.
“I recently attended a workshop — masters in governance — and we looked at salary scales in the area in terms of administration and Windsor was at the very bottom in our pay scale, and I feel that’s something we should move away from,” she said. “It may be an unpopular thing to say, but admins work hard in this district, we are staffed incredibly lean and they need to be compensated on par with what their peers are making. I’m naturally an optimist, but I think we will only gain from that investment. I think it will turn out for the best.”
Heitz added his view of the salary offer as well. “We did have information from neighboring county districts giving salary schedules and what they are paying, and we are at the bottom in most areas,” he said. “And, there’s been some new hires in the area that have received a lot of strong financial backing, so we felt that to get the candidate we had consensus on, we must build into our salary schedule in order to offer the position.”
Decker was then introduced for a brief hello.
“I’m just excited, I’ve been waiting for this day. I’m very excited to come into Windsor,” he said. “I’ve been observing Windsor for many years and always thought it would be a good fit. I’m excited to get started and work with everybody.
“I wish we could all be together in person,” he said alluding to the virtual meeting format. “But, I just can’t wait to get started.”
“I sent Jeremy a text message, told him the next time we can meet face to face I’d deliver him a Jaguar ballcap or sweater. We’ll get him some swag eventually,” Heitz joked.
Krueger had praise for his successor. “I’m so confident with my work over with you over last four years, I believe you are the right one to continue the momentum we have as a district in a very positive way, and I look forward to working with you on the transition,” he said.
“Thanks Brandon, that really means a lot,” Decker said.
Reached the morning after the announcement, Decker reflected on the coming change.
“I’m not the type of superintendent who goes job hunting,” he said. “I want to be in a place I feel fits my skillset, and I know Windsor, similarly to Cloverdale, really values the building of relationships (and) that, I feel, is a strength of mine.”
He also reiterated that he’s been interested in working Windsor for some time. “Windsor really made sense,” he said. “I also think that their high school and their cores program and their valuing of CTE really fits my beliefs and it just seemed like a really good fit. I’ve watched Windsor from afar for many years and I’ve always admired the people and the district.”
And he knows that transitions are never easy, even when they are important. “I’m looking forward to getting to know people and learning about the culture of the district, but most importantly, I’m looking forward to learning,” he said. “You walk into a place and you hope to use your skill set correctly, but you can’t use your skill set without sitting down and listening. I’m looking forward to that process and getting to know the district.” Additional reporting by Zoë Strickland.
