25 Oct WCCUSD Board Approves Upcoming Interim Superintendent’s Contract

(Screenshot captured by Samantha Kennedy / The CC Pulse)

By Samantha Kennedy

Terms for West Contra Costa Unified School District’s incoming interim superintendent, Kim Moses, are set with just over a month until she takes over. 

Moses, who’s expected to take over for current Superintendent Kenneth “Chris” Hurst after his departure in December, will earn $315,895 per year. She’s contracted to be in the position until June 30, 2025, after which she’ll step back down to being an associate superintendent, according to the agreement. 

The West Contra Costa school board approved Moses’ contract at its Wednesday meeting, which also stipulates that, in the event Hurst leaves his position sooner than December, Moses will receive additional compensation and take over. 

Moses this summer was appointed to her current role of associate superintendent of business services after serving in the role in an interim capacity. That agreement, which ran through 2027, was set to pay Moses $224,394 per year. 

The board is also expected to hire a coach “to mentor and support the superintendent,” according to the agreement, but compensation details or a timeline for that hire were not provided. 

Before serving in her current position, Moses served in the district as a teacher and principal. She graduated from Kennedy High School in 1989. 

The board first announced Moses’ appointment at an Oct. 1 special meeting following Hurst’s abrupt early retirement announcement the day before. 

In her closing comments for the night, trustee Leslie Reckler called for a special meeting to discuss the superintendent search process, which would include a timeline of the search and which firms the district would use. Trustees Otheree Christian and Mister Phillips also asked for a special meeting. 

The search for WCCUSD’s last permanent superintendent, which ended with Hurst’s hiring, was “an exhaustive six-month search process,” according to the district at the time. It lasted from the end of 2020 through the middle of 2021 and prompted over 6,000 community responses on what they wanted from the next superintendent. 

Reckler also proposed a change to the evaluation of the interim superintendent, saying the timeframe to complete the evaluation was “almost impossible” given that Moses would receive goals no later than Jan. 30, 2025. 

She instead asked that the board hold a mid-year evaluation with Moses no later than April 1, 2025. 

The board unanimously approved Moses’ employment agreement with Reckler’s change. Trustees Demetrio Gonzalez-Hoy and Phillips were absent from the vote. 

Support Continues for High School Coaches

Kennedy High School community members know Yaquelin Valencia as Coach Jackie, a dedicated girls soccer, volleyball and softball coach that many players say provides “unwavering support.” 

But Valencia, who was dismissed earlier this year from her position as girls’ soccer coach, said her dedication to her players is exactly why she’s been removed. 

Valencia is one of two coaches that students and other community members have come out in support of at the past two school board meetings. The other, El Cerrito High School’s football head coach Jacob Rincon, did not speak at the meeting alongside dozens in support of him. 

“I’m being pushed out for expressing my concerns about lack of access — the lack of access to the restrooms, not having keys, no equity in sports and no equity in uniforms,” Valencia said at Wednesday’s meeting over Zoom. Nearly 200 people, many of them there for her and Rincon, were listening. 

Valencia said she planned to have this season be her last as coach, citing the concerns she expressed previously, but instead was removed from the position. “I didn’t want to get pushed out,” she said. “Not like this.” 

Players for Kennedy High School’s girls soccer team called for the district to return Valencia to “her rightful place,” they wrote in a Change.org petition last week, which is “leading us on the soccer field in the 2024/2025 season.” 

“Her dedication, passion and leadership are irreplaceable,” said Jasper Garcia, Contra Costa College’s women’s soccer coach. “The students of Kennedy High deserve to have her in their corner.” 

The board did not address Valencia’s removal. But Hurst did read a statement that was sent out to El Cerrito High School community members before public comment about the school’s football team and Rincon, confirming an investigation into player eligibility at the school and disputing claims made about El Cerrito’s principal, Malcolm Norrington.

“The investigation was initiated by the superintendent, me, after receiving credible information regarding possible ineligibility issues related to the ECHS football program,” he said. “This action aligns with our commitment to maintain the integrity of our athletics programs and ensure compliance with the California Interscholastic Federation, CIF’s rules and regulations.” 

El Cerrito’s football team recently forfeited six games that, according to a letter Norrington sent out on Monday, ineligible players participated in. 

The next regularly scheduled West Contra Costa school board meeting is Nov. 6.