Pleasanton Picks Fremont Administrator as New Schools Superintendent

The Pleasanton Unified School District  announced today that Parvin Ahmadi will be its new superintendent.

Ahmadi is assistant superintendent of instruction for the Fremont Unified School District, which has about 32,000 students. Ahmadi began her career as a teacher in San Jose. She has a master's degree in teaching from National-Louis University and a master's in educational administration from St. Mary's College.

Ahmadi said she was looking forward to working in the district.

"I'm delighted and very honored," she said. "I know that it will be a great experience and I will be spending the first few months getting to know everyone and hopefully doing my best to become part of the wonderful culture in the district."

Ahmadi described the Pleasanton's school system as impressive and said she is prepared to deal with future budget challenges that the district is facing.

"We [at Fremont] have also been dealing with the same challenges and financial difficulties," she said.

Ahmadi said the district has already done an "outstanding job working with various bargaining groups" to find solutions to its budget woes.

Ahmadi, who will officially start her new position July 1, has been a resident of Fremont for 13 years. She is married with two sons; the youngest is a senior in high school.

Ahmadi first moved to the Fremont district as the director of elementary education in 2005 and was promoted to assistant superintendent in 2008, according to a statement from the district.

Valerie Arkin, Pleasanton school board member and liason between the district and search firm Hazard, Young, Attea & Associates, said board members will have a final public vote to approve their choice at their May 11 meeting.

"The board felt as a whole that she would be a really good fit in Pleasanton," she said.  "We're lucky to have her, we're convinced that she's going to do really well."

Arkin said that Ahmadi stood out because of her ability to collaborate.

"Talking to her colleagues in Fremont, we came to the conclusion that she communicates, gathers input and involves everyone in the decision making process," she said.

Ahmadi will take the place of Superintendent John Casey, who has been with the district since 2002.  Casey received a base salary of $218,020 for his 2007-2010 contract plus benefits.

The contract for the new superintendent will not be available to the public until the May 11 school board meeting, according to Myla Grasso, spokeswoman for the district.

School board members voted unanimously for Ahmadi after a six-month search that began when Casey announced his retirement last October.

The school board signed with the search firm in December, and about 35 people applied for the job, Arkin said.

The firm narrowed the candidates to six, who were interviwed by school board members. The final four candidates, all from California, were then interviewed by a community panel from April 17 to April 18.

The panel was comprised of 13 community and business leaders: principals, parents, parent-teacher council representatives, business owners and union leaders. It included, among others, Scott Raty, president of the Pleasanton Chamber of Commerce, Cindy McGovern, a Pleasanton City Council member and former school board member,  Nelson Fialho, city manager, and Joan Laursen, president of the Parent Teacher Association Council.

Arkin said the panel's duty was to give board members feedback on what they believe were the strengths and weakness of each candidate. Panel members also looked at how each candidate fit into a leadership profile, created by the search firm after meeting with the community and others in the district.