UPPER LAKE, Calif. – The Upper Lake Unified School District Board voted unanimously on Tuesday evening to hire the next principal of Upper Lake Elementary School.
Lakeport resident Stephanie Wayment, currently serving as the Educational Resources and Accountability director at the Lake County Office of Education, received full board support during the vote, held toward the end of the meeting.
Wayment holds a bachelor's degree in liberal studies as well as a multiple subject teaching credential and an administrative credential from Sonoma State University, and has a master's degree in education focusing on curriculum, instruction and assessment from Walden University in Baltimore.
She has extensive administrative experience, has taught in K-8 education in the Lakeport and Konocti school districts, and also has taught at the university level at Sonoma State and Dominican University.
In addition, Wayment is a founding member of the Literacy Task Force, has directed the Imagination Library effort, was involved in organizing the Lake County Mock Trial competition, is fluent in Spanish, and has created activities and programs to help Hispanic students prepare for college.
Wayment's hire becomes effective on July 1, the day after the separate elementary and high school districts formally end in order to be combined into the new unified district.
Wayment emerged as the top candidate from a field of applicants that included primarily Lake County residents as well as one person from Michigan, according to district officials.
She will succeed Valerie Gardner, the principal/superintendent of the Upper Lake Union Elementary School, who is retiring this summer.
Unlike Gardner, Wayment will be principal only, and will not have to fulfill the second role as superintendent. The district's interim superintendent is Patrick Iaccino, who also is principal/superintendent for the soon-to-be-dissolved Upper Lake Union High School District.
After the vote, Gardner – seated in the audience behind Wayment – reached over and patted her shoulder.
“You just made a great decision,” district Business Manager Sue Milhaupt told the board.
Iaccino congratulated Wayment and welcomed her to the district.
Iaccino told the board that Gardner chaired the selection committee, which included elementary school parents, teachers and classified staff.
“It wasn't easy,” he said of the selection process.
Wayment told the board and district officials, “I am super excited to be here.”
Iaccino said he will meet with the new district's three school principals – Wayment for the elementary school, Don Boyd for the Middle School and Sandy Coatney for the high school – for the first time as a group on Wednesday.
The board appointed Boyd and Coatney to those principal positions on March 8, as Lake County News has reported.
Gardner said she is working with the Lake County Office of Education to arrange to have Wayment begin spending a few days a week at the district beginning in April in preparation for taking over this summer.
“She's looking very hard at her calendar trying to figure out how to do it all,” said Gardner.
During the meeting board members congratulated Wayment. Board member Keith Austin said he liked her professionalism and her approach to learning.
In other board action on Tuesday, the board heard presentations from consultants on education management and facilities planning, and got an update from district staffer Clarinda Higgins focusing on special education.
The board also held a brief public hearing on sunshine contract openers for employee unions and approved the proposed 2016-17 school calendar, with starting and ending dates of Aug. 10 and May 26, respectively.
With the district and employees unions still to finalize contracts, Iaccino said the school calendar might end up being brought back for further consideration at a future time as part of negotiations.
The board also unanimously approved exchanging its twice-monthly meeting schedule for one meeting per month.
Starting in April, the board will begin meeting at 5 p.m. on the second Tuesday, with the Upper Lake High School Library remaining the meeting location. The date of the next meeting is April 12.
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School board hires new Upper Lake Elementary School principal
- Elizabeth Larson
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