Twin Rivers Unified School District

The Twin Rivers Unified School District was created as a result of the November 2007 approval of Measure B,^[1][2] a proposal to merge the four North Sacramento (California) area school districts: the North Sacramento School District, the Del Paso Heights School District, the Rio Linda Union School District, and the Grant Joint Union High School District. Originally referred to as New North Area Unified School District after Measure B passed, the name Twin Rivers was selected from among 300 submitted by community members during a three-week naming contest.^[3] Twin Rivers USD has also hosted a series of community forums to obtain feedback and input from parents, classified staff, teachers, and community members.^[4] The district office is located at 5115 Dudley Boulevard, McClellan, California.^[5]

Administration

• Dr. Steven Martinez, Ed.D. Superintendent
• Bill McGuire, Deputy Superintendent of Administrative Services
• Vacant, Associate Superintendent of Educational Services
• Dr. Jacqueline Prez, ED. Associate Superintendent of Human Resources
• Harvey Woo, Chief of Police

On December 4, 2007, the trustees selected Frank Porter to serve as Twin Rivers USD Interim Superintendent.^[6] Porter, who had been the superintendent of the Rio Linda Union School District was selected for the job over Ramona Bishop, the superintendent of the Del Paso Heights Elementary School District. The new district assumed operational responsibility for the 37,000 students in the four merging districts on July 1, 2008.

Frank Porter has announced his retirement as of June 30, 2012 after four and a half years as the district's superintendent. Rob Ball served about three months as acting superintendent and Joe Williams served 10 months as the interim superintendent. Effective July 1, 2013, Dr. Steven Martinez, previously of Fresno Unified now serves as the district superintendent.

In its brief history, the district has shown leadership potential as four of its assistant superintendents have become superintendents - Debra LaVoi, Ed.D., became the superintendent at Woodland Joint Unified in July 2009 until her retirement in July 2014, Ramona Bishop, Ed.D.,became the superintendent at Vallejo City Unified in April 2011, Gloria Hernandez-Goff, Ed.D., became the Superintendent of the Ravenswood School District in May 2013, and Rusty Clark became the superintendent of the Pleasant Ridge School District near Grass Valley in June 2013. Dr. Shelly Holt, secondary curriculum director for the district when it first started is now Chief of Schools in the Fontana Unified School District in Southern California.

Areas Served

A portion of the City of Sacramento is served by Twin Rivers Schools. North Sacramento and Del Paso Heights are served by Grant Union High School. Norte Del Rio High School also served this area until its closure in the 1980s.

Three of Sacramento's westside suburbs are served by Twin Rivers Schools:

• Foothill Farms, CA - this area is served by Foothill High School
• North Highlands, CA - this area is served by Highlands High School
• Rio Linda, CA - this area is served by Rio Linda High School

Board of Trustees

• Rebecca Sandoval, President of the Board, Area 6
• Michelle Rivas, Vice President of the Board, Area 2
• Michael Baker, Clerk of the Board, Area 1
• Bob Bastian, Area 4
• Linda Fowler, Area 7
• Walter Garcia Kawamoto, Ph.D., Area 3
• Vacant, Area 5

Area 5 Seat Special Election

Cortez Quinn occupied the Area 5 seat until 10/16/2014 he resigned after pleading no contest to a felony count on conspiracy to obstruct justice for illegally taking gifts and loans from a school district employee and for obstructing a paternity case.^[7] The charter school operator Sonja Cameron was appointed to the seat without an election. Local community members found the swift appointment undemocratic and organized enough signatures for a special election. Sonja Cameron is running for the vacant seat against Basim Elkarra, a former member of the California Democratic Party and board member of the Sacramento Chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union, for the May 12th special election.^[8]

Notable alumni

There have been several students and staff members of the schools that are within the Twin Rivers USD.

• Virginia Avila - Grant Union High School Teacher - California Teacher of the Year 2003^[9]
• Sean Chambers - Highlands High School Class of 1983, - Alaska Aces (PBA) star player^[10]
• Grantland Johnson - Grant Union High School graduate - Former California Secretary of Health and Human Services^[11]
• Scott Galbraith - Highlands High School, Class of 1985 - former professional American football tight end in the NFL for nine seasons - played in Super Bowl XXVIII with the champion Dallas Cowboys (final score Dallas 30, Buffalo 13)^[12]
• Dr. William H. Lee - Grant Union High School graduate - Owner/Publisher of The Sacramento Observer^[13]
• Rob Vernatchi - Twin Rivers Adult School (formerly Grant Adult Education) NCOA Referee Graduate - NFL Official (Field Judge)^[14]
• George Wright - Grant Union High School Graduate - Organist
• Rob Kerth - former Sacramento City councilmember and mayoral candidate
• Lloyd Connelly - Sacramento County Judge, former Assemblymember and Sacramento City Councilmember
• Allen Warren- Sacramento City Councilmember

Alumni who came back to serve on the Board of Trustees

• Alecia Chasten 2008-2012 (Highlands)
• Michelle Rivas 2008-2012, 2014-Prest (Foothill)
• Bob Bastian 2008-Prest (Grant)
• Rebecca Sandoval 2012–Present (Norte Del Rio)
• Michael Baker 2012–Present (Foothill)

Notes

http://sacramento.cbslocal.com/2013/11/07/twin-rivers-trustee-taking-leave-while-facing-accusations-of-illegal-loans-falsifying-paternity-test/ http://sacramento.cbslocal.com/2012/06/28/grand-jury-report-blasts-twin-rivers-unified-school-district-administrators/ http://sacramento.cbslocal.com/2012/06/04/twin-rivers-looking-to-advertise-at-school-sites/ http://sacramento.cbslocal.com/2013/11/12/twin-rivers-unified-school-cafeteria-was-shut-down-after-failed-health-inspection/