UPPER LAKE >> The Upper Lake Unified School District (ULUSD) Board of Trustees decided to negotiate a memorandum of understanding with Upper Lake Union High School District (ULUHSD) Superintendent Pat Iaccino that would make him the interim head of the new district.
Deliberating for more than an hour in closed session Tuesday, the board gave Iaccino its unanimous support.
“We thought he was the best candidate out there,” board president Mel O’Meara said. “He knows the town and is familiar with everybody.”
The board and the Lake County Office of Education consider his 11-year tenure an advantage when ULUSD enters into collective bargaining negotiations with faculty and when it comes to implementing educational programming for the three schools.
If an agreement is reached, he would be executing several jobs (he is also the principal of Upper Lake High School). Lake County Superintendent Brock Falkenberg said this shouldn’t be a problem because of the district’s novelty and would also receive help from ULUHSD Assistant Superintendent Don Boyd to fill in the gaps.
All of the normal things won’t be part of the responsibility for the first six months,” Falkenberg said while expressing his confidence in Iaccino getting the district ready for the first day of school in the fall semester.
The Board of Trustees also approved a plan to give him some help during the public portion of meetings by enlisting Education Leadership Solutions (ELS).
Run by former county superintendent Wally Holbrook, ELS will advise the board in administrative training and help in recruitment for leadership roles, among others.
Some members of the public expressed concern over his $75 per hour cost which has a capped payout at $25,000. When asked about it, O’Meara said the district doesn’t want to reach the maximum.
If anything, Falkenberg said he believes ELS will further assist with facilitating the process.
“It’s not just Wally Holbrook,” he said, addressing those worried about the ELS CEO’s influence. “It’s another toll in the board’s bag to make sure all the best educational programming is available to the kids.”
Upper Lake Teacher’s Association President Gary Madison did not have a comment about the contract, but said his union was pleased with the board’s decision.
“We were real happy,” Madison said. “It meant that everybody is heading in the same direction. We have a lot more confidence going forward.”
In concurrence with O’Meara and Falkenberg, praise was also given to the public for its large turnout. O’Meara said more than 50 people attended—many of them voicing their support for Iaccino before the board went into closed session.
“They had to bring a lot of extra chairs,” Madison said. All three said they wanted to encourage that magnitude of participation.
“I’d like to invite anyone in the district to come to the meetings,” O’Meara said. “We’d like to get all the public input we can get.”
ELS is expected to hold its first workshop in the coming weeks but the exact time is to be announced. The next school board meeting is scheduled for Jan. 26.
