By Charly SHELTON

After an extensive search process, it was announced last month that the Glendale Unified School District had found its new superintendent in Winfred Roberson Jr. out of Davis Joint Unified School District in Davis, California. It was a position tentatively held until Tuesday night when the monthly board of education meeting saw an action item to make it official. The board unanimously voted “very happily yes” to approve his contract and welcome him aboard. The contract, which runs from April 1, 2016 to March 31, 2020, brings Roberson in with a $255,000 per year base salary.

“We did a long search, and we did a thorough search, and we did a national search,” said Board President Christine Walters addressing Roberson and the audience during the meeting. “And we think that we have definitely found the right person for the job, so we are very excited. Your passion for public education is exactly what we need here and your collaborative spirit will fit in very well.”

Roberson has a 23-year background in education, serving as a U.S. and world history teacher for 11 years before becoming a site administrator for six years and then a superintendent for six years. He succeeds Dr. Richard M. Sheehan, who left last year, and interim superintendents Dr. Donald Empey, Dr. Joel Shawn and Dr. Marc Winger.

“I’m humbled and honored to be here, and grateful,” Roberson said. “As I look at these students, I’m thinking of words by Neil Postman who said that, ‘The children are a living message that we send to a time that has not yet come.’ And I’m excited about the students and the honor that was just bestowed upon them [earlier in the meeting] for their work in the arts. I look forward to partnering with this team here, with our teachers, our administrators, our classified staff and the parents here that love their schools so much.

“I’m excited about it. This is going to be great. If I could close with words from the late, great philosopher James Brown, ‘I feel good.’”

Roberson will begin his duties with the District on April 1.

  Charly Shelton