Merced City School District school board names potential new superintendent
The Merced City School District School Board has zeroed in on a target in its search for a new superintendent.
After conducting multiple round of interviews, board president Allen Brooks announced the district has commenced contract negotiations with superintendent candidate Julianna Stocking.
“In our next board meeting on June 11th, we will announce our next superintendent,” Brooks said. “Right now we’re negotiating the contract so not everything is finalized.”
Stocking, 47, was born and raised in Merced County, graduating from Livingston High in 1994.
“I’m looking forward to serving the students, staff, and families of Merced City School District,” Stocking said in a statement to The Merced Sun-Star. “My heart is in the Valley, as I grew up in Merced County, a proud graduate of Livingston High School. Coming back to the Merced community truly feels like coming home for me.”
Stocking worked as a teacher and instructional coach in the Delhi Unified School District from 2001 until 2011. She then worked as an associate principal and Schendel/Harmony K-8 School in Delhi for a year before being promoted to principal of Schendel K-8 School from 2012 through 2015.
Since 2020, Stocking has served as the associate superintendent/Educational Services, for the Tracy Unified School District.
Brooks said Stocking’s leadership and compassion for kids helped separate her from the field.
“Her leadership skills, her ability to build relationships and her innovation when it comes to thinking,” Brooks said. “It’s also her overall love and focus for every child.”
The district now appears to be headed toward the finish line after a long search.
The school district — which includes 11,500 students and about 1,400 staff and 18 schools — has been operating without a permanent leader in place since the board fired former superintendent Diana Jimenez during a special board meeting on April 25, 2023. Jimenez was terminated after less than a year serving as superintendent in the district.
Associate Superintendent Brian Meisenheimer has been acting superintendent since Jimenez’s dismissal.
Jimenez was selected as superintendent after former MCSD superintendent Richard “Al” Rogers resigned on July 1, 2021, following a civil complaint filed against him alleging sexual harassment.
Stocking will be the fifth person to fill the role of superintendent since January of 2020.
“The search firm worked this time, they were able to give us 21 candidates and from that we interviewed 10 during a two-day process,” Brooks said. “We trimmed that 10 down to three or four finalists.”
Brooks and fellow board member Birdi Olivarez-Kidwell then visited Stocking in Tracy for a site visit.
“All of our board members are on board 100% and believe she’s the next leader to lead our district into the next phase,” Brooks said. “She was born and raised in Merced County. She’s worked a lot in Merced County.
“She’s a stable worker. If you look at the places she’s been she’s been there for a while. She’s dedicated and that’s what we were looking for in a candidate.”
This story was originally published May 30, 2024 at 5:30 AM.
