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The Livermore Valley Joint Unified School District Board of Education concluded its journey to finding a new superintendent by approving the employment contract for Torie Gibson during its final regular meeting of the 2023-24 school year.
Gibson, who most recently served as dual superintendent for the Amador County Office of Education and Amador County Unified School District, was announced as the board’s top candidate for the position the week before the board unanimously approved her contract and officially welcomed her to the district.
Gibson is succeeding Chris Van Schaack, who is retiring from the district after serving two years as superintendent and 37 years overall in education.
Board President Emily Prusso delivered a summary of the now-approved compensation agreement during the June 18 meeting.
“The term of the contract is from July 1, 2024 to June 30, 2028. The base salary provided for is $350,000 per year. The base salary shall be increased 2.5% or the same as the LEA, whichever is higher, if the superintendent receives a positive performance evaluation – meaning a rating of satisfactory or above satisfactory – on her annual performance evaluation,” Prusso said.
“The superintendent will receive one day of sick leave for each of the 12 months she works in a year, the superintendent will receive health insurance coverage with premium costs paid for by the district under the district’s health, vision and dental insurance plans for the superintendent and spouse for a plan consistent with one of those offered to Livermore Management Association members,” Prusso added.
Gibson is also set to receive a one-time payment of $15,000 to cover the cost of relocating to the area. She will also receive mileage reimbursement consistent with board policy for travel outside of the county and the district will pay her membership fees for the Association of California School Administrators and the local Rotary Club.
Additionally, if the board determines it appropriate, they may hire a superintendent coach to mentor and support Gibson.
Following Prusso’s summary outlining the contract, Board Member Craig Bueno offered comments of support to Gibson.
“Having gone through the process as a governance team and overseeing a couple transitions that we’ve had, I’m in full support of the contract and bringing in Dr. Gibson in the new role of superintendent,” Bueno said.
“I think that the district is going to be in very good hands. I look forward to it. As someone who has lived in this community for 40 years, I’ve seen quite a bit of change and spent a lot of years in leadership and I think she’s going to lead this district to the next level. I think that has to be our goal is when you make transitions – you continually grow, you continually move forward and I especially would like to thank the board for the governance effort in making the selection,” he added.
After the contract was “enthusiastically” and unanimously approved, Gibson shared remarks expressing excitement to begin her new job.
“I’m really honored, I don’t take this position lightly,” she said. “I know I’m coming from the outside in and I think that does come with some value of just having that fresh lens.”
She added that part of her leadership philosophy begins with a focus on relationships. “That’s the No.1 key pivotal point for me coming forward. I believe those relationships help support us in our success as we celebrate those. I also believe that we lean into those relationships in times of challenges and I think it allows us to build the trust that we need over time,” she said.
“It’s really important that we use this time to have some open communication and dialogue and really be transparent about what’s working, maybe what our challenges are – obviously, we have some budget things that we need to talk about sooner than later – and lots of other things and I’m all ears,” Gibson said, adding that as she digs into the role she will ask many questions and ask for a lot of data and documentation to be shared with her to help her understand the issues facing the district.
Gibson also thanked and congratulated her predecessor, Van Schaack. “I just want to thank you already for the time that you devoted to me, whether it was a three-hour text conversation we had one evening or just the sitting and getting to know each other. I look forward to always knowing that I can reach out to you for those questions and the learning together,” she said.
The first regular board meeting of the 2024-25 school year is set for July 30 with the first day of school for Livermore planned for Aug. 13.
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