Modesto City Schools board interviewing 13 candidates for vacancy

The Modesto City Schools Board of Education will hold special meetings Monday and Thursday to interview candidates to fill the vacancy left by Ruben Villalobos. The 13 applicants – six women, seven men – have a wide range of education and experience.

Former MCS Trustee Stacie Morales, who was appointed in 2012 to fill a vacancy but did not run in 2013, has applied, as have former board members from the Sylvan and Salida districts.

Five applicants have children attending district schools. Experience among the candidates ranges from teachers and school support staffers to banking, construction and real estate, as well as a former project lead for Chicago Public Schools and a software engineer working with NASA.

Both meetings will start at 4 p.m. in the staff development center. Trustees will hold open discussions and vote to appoint after all the interviews. Here are the candidates, in alphabetical order, with information from their applications:

▪ Loretta Berryhill, 53, self-employed with banking experience, parent of a high school student and wife of state Sen. Tom Berryhill.

▪ Chad Brown, 60, in property management, served 12 years on the Sylvan Union School District Board and now sits on the district’s Citizens Bond Oversight Committee.

▪ Catie Englebright, 52, former Salida schools secretary and librarian, served on the Salida Union School District Board from 2009-14.

▪ Frank Daniel Leguria, 24, a Sylvan teacher whose mother is an MCS secretary.

▪ Stacie Morales, 55, manager with Consolidated Transportation Agency, served on the Empire Union School District board from 2005-12, and on the Modesto City Schools board from 2012-13, and has two children in MCS high school.

▪ Jane Pascal, 53, a nonprofit consultant and parent of an MCS junior high student, directed a joint project of the Chicago Public Schools and Chicago Housing Authority.

▪ Desiree Romo, 32, adjunct professor at Brandman University and adviser at Heald College, whose husband is a campus supervisor for Modesto City Schools and son is an MCS high school student.

▪ Robert Starling Jr., 62, retired MCS teacher and coach.

▪ John Patrick Walker, 49, programming analyst and software engineer for the University of California at Santa Cruz doing work for NASA, with children in MCS schools.

▪ Walter Wesson III, 62, construction manager and business owner who invented a widely used wine barrel rack system.

▪ Maria Wiechmann, 63, retired library media assistant with the Sylvan district and current classified union representative for 10 districts.

▪ Tom Wright, 51, Salida Middle School teacher.

▪ Steven Zagaris, 32, a Realtor and co-owner of PMZ Real Estate, and product of Modesto City Schools.

By law, the board has until Feb. 3 to make its choice. The job pays a $765 per month stipend and includes a contribution toward health benefits.

This story was originally published January 23, 2015 at 7:51 PM with the headline "Modesto City Schools board interviewing 13 candidates for vacancy."