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First-year Valley View Elementary School principal Julie Plaisance has announced her resignation after she was hired in late May — meaning whoever takes her place will be the fourth permanent principal the school has seen in the last three academic years.
The Pleasanton Unified School District confirmed Plaisance’s departure on Friday and said that Valley View vice principal Andrea Withers will serve as the interim principal until somebody is permanently hired.
Cheryl Garrett, an experienced administrator who previously served other PUSD schools, will also be providing additional administrative support during this interim period.
“We are focused on supporting the Valley View community to ensure that school operations continue to move forward for their students, staff and families,” said Patrick Gannon, PUSD director of communications.
Gannon said that out of respect for privacy, the district is unable to elaborate or provide additional information as to why Plaisance decided to leave.
Plaisance came to the district after seven years of school administrative experience, which includes leading a K-8 dual immersion school in Contra Costa County through the pandemic and the reopening of her school.
PUSD hired her leading into the start of the 2022-23 academic year after the announcement that former principal Gerardo Guzman-Rico was resigning after one year because he lived too far from Valley View. Guzman-Rico served as vice principal at Valley View before being appointed to principal for the 2021-22 school year.
The most recent principal to last more than a year was Soraya Villaseñor, who is now the district coordinator of equity and access. She was principal for four years from 2017 to 2021 before she was appointed to her current position.
I was in one of the first group of students when Valley View opened. In fact, I was in the fifth grade there (my teacher was Mrs. Taylor) on November 22, 1963. A student came into the class and gave Mrs. Taylor a note which she then read to the class. The rest, as they say, is history.