Interim School Chief's First Day

Milpitas Unified will welcome a retired superintendent from Sonoma Valley Unified Superintendent Monday, who steps in as interim superintendent to assist with an essential role—getting the budget passed.

Barbara Young will bring to the table nine years (2000-08) of educational leadership experience at Mill Valley Unified School District, a run that included roles as assistant and head superintendent. Though Young has been retired for almost three years, a former colleague of Young says one outstanding attribute that will make her a great fit for the Milpitas community is her work ethic.

“They will get a full measure of work from her every single day; she’s a tireless worker,” says Helen Marsh, a Sonoma Valley Unified trustee who has known Young since November 2005.

In her most recent professional endeavor, Young served as permanent superintendent for the Sonoma Valley Unified School District in 2006, after a year on the board. According to Marsh, Young was initially hired as an interim for November 2005 to June 2006. But in January 2006, Sonoma Valley Unified decided to keep Young on staff, despite Young’s plans to retire and do consulting work.

In fact, Marsh notes both the board and community “really wanted” Young to stay beyond the initial seven- or eight-month commitment. Young’s line of work and her teamwork attitude made all the difference in convincing her to remain with the district. She wound up serving until June 2008, when she retired.

“[Young] could’ve really stayed as long as she wanted to, because we were so thrilled with the work she did,” Marsh says. “She’s an extraordinarily talented administrator, an inspirational leader and a passionate educator.”

Sonoma County Superintendent Steven Herrington knew Young during his previous stint as superintendent at Windsor Unified, and also recalls the tremendous impact of Young’s work.

“[She] provided stability to a district that was facing many transitional issues,” Herrington says. “She has a very collaborative style and works at building capacity within the organizations she has been affiliated.”

Although Young’s stint as superintendent there lasted approximately two years and eight months, Marsh suggests the positive legacy of Young’s tenure at Sonoma Valley will likely carry over to Milpitas. Marsh said if there’s one thing to hope for in Young, it’s her commitment to those she serves.

“She really hit the ground running, in terms of getting to know people in the community,” says Marsh. “As far as I could tell, she has an open-door policy. People felt free to come to her.”

That’s likely to be welcome news to Milpitas educators and residents, as the school district is in a transitional state to . The executive search firm, Leadership Associates, will meet with the board on Wednesday to decide on candidates to interview. Final interviews are scheduled for May 22-23. The school board plans to select a permanent superintendent by June 30. Young is expected to stay through  of the new superintendent.

“She will collaborate with all the state corridor holders, the board, the employees, the bargaining units, the parents, community members, the other youth organizations, and do whatever needs to be done to provide stability and a smart transition to a permanent superintendent,” Marsh says.

In general, Milpitas schools score higher on the API than Sonoma Valley schools. The API scores released on Thursday show most schools in Milpitas Unified score close to 800 or above (out of a possible 1,000), compared with only .

Among Young's civic engagements, she serves on the board of the Sonoma Valley Fund, a local philanthropic organization.