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Shay Galletti, former coordinator of early literacy and numeracy in Pleasanton, officially started her new job as superintendent and principal at Sunol Glen School on Monday after she was appointed by the school board on June 18.
While Galletti started her new position as the community got set to vote on whether to recall school board president Ryan Jergensen and trustee Linda Hurley on Tuesday, she said she plans on looking toward the future and working with the board to focus on what is important to the school.
“I’m of course well aware that they have had some struggles … but my goal is to work collaboratively with the board, to work collaboratively with staff, to listen, to learn and to build on the strengths,” Galletti told the Weekly prior to being officially appointed to the position. “In all of education, our goal is to serve the students and to ensure their success.”
Galletti was selected as a finalist for the dual position of superintendent and principal at the beginning of June following the news in January that longtime Sunol Glen leader Molleen Barnes was retiring. Â
When Barnes said she would be leaving, the school board began its search for a replacement with help from the Alameda County Office of Education, which paid $13,000 for the hiring of a superintendent search firm.
The Los Angeles-based employment firm, Leadership Associates, had an aggressive timeline to find someone by the summer and after several interview sessions with the board and community forums, the school board decided Galletti was the best fit.
“I’m going to give it my all,” Galletti said. “I have a passion for education and I am going to be there to support every single member of that community and work with them.”
According to Galletti’s contract with the district, she will be making an annual salary of $220,000 over a three-year contract that is set to end on June 30, 2027. Her yearly pay could be increased at the board’s discretion, according to her contract.
As for medical benefits, her contract states that Galletti can “select any medical, dental, and vision plan available to other certificated management employees within the district,” but she will be responsible for any employee contribution of the plan she selects.
Once Galletti’s contract expires, she will have to renegotiate a new contract with the district.
Galletti said that she is thoroughly honored to be the person to take Sunol Glen to its next step. She said she applied for the position because it was the logical next step in her career after all the work she has done at the Pleasanton Unified School District.
“My work here in Pleasanton has led me to this place to be able to take on the superintendent-principal (role) at Sunol Glen,” Galletti said.
Galletti was a fifth grade teacher at Alisal Elementary and then at Hearst Elementary schools before moving up to become a principal at Fairlands Elementary School from 2015 to 2019. She was also the PUSD director of elementary education for some time before she became the coordinator of early literacy and numeracy.
Galletti said she is excited to embark on a new journey after such a long time but also sad because she has to leave all of the professional relationships she made during her time in Pleasanton that prepared her for her new job in Sunol.
However, she said that because a lot of students who go to Sunol Glen end up in at least one of the two Pleasanton high schools, her background at PUSD is going to be useful in helping those outgoing eighth graders with any PUSD related questions as they make that transition to high school.
Galletti said she always planned on going “higher up within administration,” which is why she stepped down from her director position in PUSD to coordinator so that she could pursue her doctorate — which she assured won’t interfere with her new job.
She said when she realized the position was first open she asked herself if it was the right time in her life and career. But she quickly realized that her end goal after getting her doctorate was pursuing such a position.
Galletti said she didn’t want to miss the opportunity to put her experience as a principal and as a district administrator at PUSD to use.
Jergensen said during the June 18 meeting where the board officially approved Galletti’s contract that it was very clear during the interview process that the board had a great candidate and was impressed with her plan for hitting the ground running.
She told the Weekly that she aims for a smooth transition for teachers, staff, parents, students and the board.
She said her main goal as she takes over is to focus on all the positive aspects of the school instead of getting bogged down by all of the negative tension in the community.
“I really think it’s about honoring the great work that has been going on at Sunol,” Galletti said.
Trustee Peter (Ted) Romo even asked Galletti about still wanting the job after she heard all of the back and forth that went on at the June 18 meeting to which she said, “yes”.
“I suspect that you will see it will be a little bit of a wild ride but as long as you’re committed I think that we believe in you and we are very positive of you stepping in,” Romo said.
She said she can’t speak about all of the past contentious board meetings and division that is in the community surrounding the recall because she wasn’t there and wasn’t part of the conversations but what she does know is that she is at Sunol to learn how things work, figure out what the school’s strengths are and build trusting and strong relationships with everyone in the school and in the community.
And as far as the recall goes, she said her job as the leader will be the same no matter the outcome.
“It’s going to be through those trusting relationships that no matter which way the outcome goes, that we can kind of establish just a positive and healthy school culture,” Galletti said. “When I say that, that’s for the staff, that’s for the families and ultimately that’s for the children who are going to school there.”
During the board meeting, Hurley said she also wanted to look toward the future and that she would like to work with Galletti to implement some of her ideas to improve student education and their overall experience. Romo and Jergensen also said they were willing to work with Galletti to help her fill in the big shoes left by Barnes’ departure.
“This school and this school district is bigger than any one of us and it is something that we do need to try our best to take care of regardless of the different opinions and what may be going around,” Jergensen said.
