Cheryl Cotton welcomed as new West Contra Costa Unified superintendent

RICHMOND Grappling with financial academic infrastructure and personnel challenges West Contra Costa Unified School District trustees appointed Cheryl Cotton as the district s new superintendent on Wednesday A former West Contra Costa Unified School District graduate principal and district office employee trustees unanimously chose Cotton to replace Dr Kenneth Hurst and Dr Kim Moses Hurst released his retirement in October and Moses the district s assistant superintendent of business services had temporarily held the top position I am happy to welcome Ms Cotton back to the WCCUSD Her familiarity with our neighborhood and wide-ranging professional experiences will be instrumental in driving candidate achievement Board President Leslie Reckler reported in a announcement Wednesday Cotton has decades of experience in the guidance field at the local county and state level For the last four years she served as deputy superintendent of constituents instruction for the California Department of Guidance overseeing the Instruction Measurement and Administration Branch She s also worked as deputy superintendent of Human Tools and Labor Relations for the California Department of Instruction assistant superintendent of Human Materials for the Contra Costa County Office of Tuition human materials director for the Albany and West Contra Costa unified school districts and school principal in the West Contra Costa and San Francisco unified school districts Cotton earned a bachelor s degree in Social Welfare from the University of California Berkeley and a master s in Guidance from Mills College She is now under a three-year contract with West Contra Costa Unified School District Her starting salary not including other benefits is Her term begins June Cotton is the district s th superintendent and the first Black woman to permanently hold the position the district noted I am honored to return to the neighborhood that shaped my educational journey and professional path Cotton announced in a message Together we will center equity advocacy aspirant success and uplift the voices of our families and educators to ensure every child has the opportunity to thrive Cotton s appointment was celebrated by members of the district and trustees during Wednesday s meeting Karina Soriano-Ponce a lead school counselor credited Cotton for giving Soriano-Ponce her first job as an educator in the district and reported she looks forward to Cotton seeing how much she s grown On behalf of all school counselors Soriano-Ponce noted they look forward to Cotton s return and the chance to collaborate on improving learner outcomes El Cerrito Mayor Carolyn Wysinger a long-time supporter of Cotton dating back to Wysinger s time working in the district declared she was pleased to see someone homegrown selected as superintendent I could not be more proud Wysinger revealed Selecting someone who intimately knew the district and its schools was also a top priority for Board Vice President Demetrio Gonzalez-Hoy he noted Wednesday He lauded Cotton as a professional with a track record of deep caring for the area and familiarity with the district s strengths and enhancement areas She is someone I know who has high integrity with a proven record of caring about our students our staff and families I saw her work incredibly hard to be equity focused and apprentice centered inevitably Gonzalez-Hoy mentioned Francisco Ortiz president of United Teachers of Richmond which represents educators and other district staff also spoke highly of Cotton s character and professional approach in an interview Thursday Having worked with Cotton when she oversaw human information for the district Ortiz noted Cotton would initiate meetings with staff to hear out their concerns and attempt to find common ground He shared hope Cotton s experience in the classroom and as a local county and state teaching leader will help steer the district in the right direction UTR Welcomes Cheryl as the new superintendent at West Contra Costa We re ready to work with her to fully staff our schools stabilize school campuses and really focus on ongoing flourishing strategies to recruit and retain our region s best educators Our students deserve nothing less Ortiz announced As superintendent Cotton will be inheriting a number of issues years in the making fiscal instability the effects of massive budget cuts facilitator and staff shortages trailing academic performances shrinking attendee enrollment and capital improvement necessities Trustee Jamela Smith-Folds explained in a social media post that Cotton was the overqualified and best candidate for the role but also cautioned the constituents to not place too high of expectations on Cotton to save the district a sentiment she also expressed during the meeting If you try to put a cape on her I will rip it off and cover her with it like a blanket If you try to push her over the glass cliff please know that she is equipped with a parachute Smith-Folds announced referring to what she explained is a phenomenon of hiring women often Black women to leadership positions during a dilemma ostensibly setting them up to fail Before formally voting on Cotton s appointment trustees also thanked Moses for her work leading and guiding the locality through challenging decisions Moses noted it was an honor to serve as interim superintendent and thanked district leadership for their guidance and aid She will return to her role overseeing the district s finances a position she explained she s eager to resume I am both proud and grateful to have been selected to lead our district in this interim role Moses announced Our collective work is extremely central to the success of our students and our schools and I look forward to supporting our new leader in moving our district forward