The Westside Express At its July 20 regular meeting, after closed session, the Dos Palos-Oro Loma School District Board of Trustees announced after closed session that it had appointed Dr. RoseMary Parga Duran as the district’s interim superintendent. Dr. Parga Duran retired from the Merced City School District in 2020 after 12 years as its superintendent and a 35-year career with the district holding positions including teacher, assistant principal, elementary school principal, middle school principal, and associate superintendent of education services. Dr. Parga Duran, who replaces Megan Grijalva, starts her new assignment Aug. 1. On Tuesday, July 25, Board President Maria Lorenzetti-Davis issued a communication regarding staff changes at various schools. Longtime local educator Frank Lemos will start the school year serving the students as assistant principal at Dos Palos High School, joining new principal Marla Sansom, who had been principal at Bryant Middle School. Danny Perez, who served as the assistant principal at Bryant Middle School, has been elevated to the principal’s post at the school. He will be joined at Bryant by Dana Reyes, who was named assistant principal at Bryant. Reyes, a Dos Palos High graduate and a member of the Bronco Athletic Hall of Fame, spent several years working in this school district before moving to a Merced school district. Valerie VonAllman will be the new principal at Marks Elementary School Marks. She has spent several years at the school as a teacher and Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) instructor. Interviews are being held for the principal position at Dos Palos Elementary, elementary STEM teachers, site day teachers, independent study/special education teachers, and agriculture teaching positions at Dos Palos High School. Lorenzetti-Davis affirmed that “the district office staff is working diligently to have all positions filled before the start of school on August 14. We are excited about the opportunity and continued growth the 2023-24 school year will surely bring.” At a previous school board meeting, Andrew Montez, President of the California School Employees Association–Chapter 761, provided comments on the turnover in the district during the public forum. On June 22, according to the minutes of that board meeting, Montez stated that the issue at hand is the turnover within the DPOL district and the profound impact on the outcomes of both the students and staff. Montez would like CSEA to be included when plans and interviews are conducted for the selection of the next superintendent and feels that the bargaining units are significant contributors to the education system and should be involved in the decisionmaking process. Montez felt the previous superintendent’s hiring process lacked transparency, leaving stakeholders feeling disconnected and unheard. Montez asked for engagement in self-reflection and exploration of the reasons behind the high administrative turnover rate. Montez continued that every site in the district will have new administrators. There needs to be an understanding, he said, of the underlying factors contributing to the issue so that the district has an environment that attracts and retains dedicated administrators The Dos Palos-Oro Loma Joint Unified School District Board of Trustees received 36 resignation notices and three retirement notices during the 2022- 2023 school year. The next regularly scheduled Board of Trustees meeting is scheduled for Aug. 17 at 7 pm.
