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The Pleasanton Unified School District Board of Trustees recently appointed a new coordinator of equity and access following the news of the former coordinator’s departure for a job in Dublin and the subsequent rescission of an offer to the district’s initial successor choice.
Soraya Villaseñor, former Valley View Elementary School principal who left the campus for PUSD headquarters in 2021 after serving as the school’s leader for nearly four years, is leaving her post as the district’s coordinator of equity and access after two years on the job.
She will be the second district office administrator in the last few weeks to be moving to the Dublin Unified School District, where she will serve as the district’s director of student services. Michael Williams, former Amador principal and senior director of human resources at PUSD, was the other recent Pleasanton employee who took on a job at DUSD.
PUSD was originally poised to hire Dwayne Bortholomew, principal of Ralph J. Bunche Academy in Oakland, to replace Villaseñor, according to PUSD director of communications Patrick Gannon.
However, Gannon confirmed that the appointment was subsequently rescinded. He said that due to privacy reasons, he could not share any additional information as to why that decision to cancel the employment offer was made.
Instead, Villaseñor will be replaced by LaToshia Palmer as the district’s new coordinator of equity and access, confirmed by the school board on June 22.
She will be tasked with taking on the responsibilities of the role, which includes supporting equity and access for students and families of historically marginalized communities and overseeing the Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Task Force.
Palmer comes to PUSD with 20 years of experience of working with adults, children and families of diverse cultures and socioeconomic backgrounds, according to her resume. She previously served as an elementary school principal at Vallejo City Unified School District and has a masters and doctor of education degree from Brandman University in Irvine.
“We are pleased to have appointed Dr. LaToshia Palmer as our new coordinator of equity and access,” Gannon said. “Prior to her time in administration, she served for over 10 years as a school social worker among a variety of other roles supporting historically marginalized students.”
