Sylvan’s new boss has big job in unprecedented time, but strong staff gives him confidence
Eric Fredrickson said he likes challenges. That’s something you want to hear the new superintendent of your child’s school district say.
And embracing a challenge is one of the reasons the Merced native sought the move from the much smaller Grass Valley School District to Modesto’s Sylvan Union district, which has an enrollment of more than 8,200.
Still, when Fredrickson was interviewing for the Sylvan job in mid-March, right before it was announced Stanislaus County schools would be closing temporarily because of the novel coronavirus outbreak, he never imagined this is the environment in which his work would begin. At that time, local school district leaders said they anticipated reopening between April 5 and April 20.
Of course, districts moved to distance learning for the remainder of the school calendar, and now will begin the 2020-21 academic year the same way. Sylvan’s starts Aug. 10.
Under normal circumstances, a new superintendent would establish a 100-day plan, learn more about the district and work on meeting “stakeholders” — administrators, teachers, staff, students, families, community members, business leaders and elected officials.
“Basically, stepping in with this whole COVID-19 experience, you can just throw that out the window,” said Fredrickson, who began as superintendent July 1. “It is immediately using the skills you’ve developed over the years.”
Already, he’s realized he has a very supportive school board, he said, and a Cabinet that is really “on the ball.” So as chaotic as this time is, Fredrickson said, he feels comfortable because district staff has “kept things moving” well during the transition from his predecessor, Superintendent Debra Hendricks, who retired in June.
Meeting fellow educators through Zoom, Google
Through Zoom and Google Meet, Fredrickson has spoken with his executive leadership team and the district’s principals and other administrators. He has yet to meet his fellow Stanislaus County school district superintendents in person but has joined them on virtual meetings, too.
And to welcome back Sylvan teachers, introduce himself and talk about some of the district’s plans, he will do a video, he said.
In his letter to families, posted on the Sylvan Union website, Fredrickson also said he will host an online community forum Tuesday, July 28. District officials will discuss the state mandates for the upcoming year’s distance learning, which the superintendent said will be “more robust” and in “sharp contrast” to the emergency home study implemented when schools closed in March.
Fredrickson said he plans to provide families with online updates probably weekly, because he understands what’s happening during the pandemic is overwhelming to them. Recent announcements by the county and the state, pushing back the anticipated reopening of schools to in-person learning, brought a flood of inquiries about how the new distance learning will work, how parents are supposed to go to work with kids at home and other concerns, he said.
While distance learning is the district’s immediate and primary concern, followed by getting students back on campus when it can, the superintendent still has the same issues on his plate that he would any other year. Among the biggest is the budget.
“Thank goodness the Legislature kept us at flat funding, rather than the 10% decrease in funding, so one of my key goals is working with the board to look at our budget for the next three years,” he said. “And, of course, we’ll be experiencing some deferrals if that federal money doesn’t come into the state, but even then, we just need to have a closer look at our budget and align it with our goals.”
Beyond that, Sylvan is a high-performing district with a great reputation, Fredrickson said, so a main goal this first year is to familiarize himself with it before trying to move forward with any type of change. “Really just trying to get to know the system and the people and the community and then move from there.”
Sylvan Union’s campuses are CF Brown, Crossroads, Freedom, Sanders, Orchard, Sherwood, Standiford, Stockard Coffee and Woodrow elementary schools, the Sylvan STEAM Academy (also elementary) and Savage, Ustach and Somerset middle schools.
Fredrickson, a graduate of Merced High School, earned his Bachelor of Arts degree from Fresno State University and his Master of Arts in school administration from the University of San Francisco.
He worked 10 years as a teacher and site administrator in the Clovis Unified School District before relocating to Northern California. He has served as an assistant principal and principal at both the high school and K-8 levels.
Before becoming Grass Valley superintendent in July 2010, he was superintendent of the Union Hill School District for two years.
This story was originally published July 20, 2020 at 4:30 AM.
