The trustees of a West Valley high school district have tabled their search for a new superintendent in favor of giving the community “a chance to know” man who’s filling the role in the interim.
The Los Gatos-Saratoga Union High School District was rocked late in 2024 by the abrupt departure of former superintendent Bill Sanderson, who had increasingly lost the trust of the district’s community. The situation was made worse by the revelation of documents identifying his history of workplace misconduct when he served as principal at a Georgia middle school more than 20 years ago.
In the wake of Sanderson’s departure, assistant superintendent of student services Heath Rocha stepped up to the interim role, prioritizing his accessibility to the community and close personal involvement with campus activities at both Los Gatos and Saratoga high schools – addressing a chief criticism of his predecessor’s tenure.
Sanderson is on leave through the end of the academic year for “personal reasons,” after which his resignation will go into effect. In the meantime, Rocha has said he’d be interested in applying for the permanent job himself, and trustees and community members appeared to agree at a school board meeting on Jan. 14.
“I have firsthand experience working with acting superintendent Rocha for the past 10 years. I see him, the valuable experience inside and his dedication to help and to support our students, our teachers and our community,” trustee Katherine Tseng said at the meeting.
Dagmar Derickson, the district’s director of human resources, presented trustees at the meeting with three options: hire an external firm to conduct the search for a permanent superintendent as they did for Sanderson, have the district’s own human resources department conduct the search or directly appoint Rocha to the job. The latter two options would save the district $30,000 but could be a burden on the district’s HR department and may not allow for full community input, the presentation reads.
But after trustees and community members expressed their interest in directly promoting Rocha – who trustee Misty Davies called “our preferred candidate” – they voted to table their decision on which option to select until Rocha has the chance to meet with and receive feedback from community members.
“No doubt he is the one I would like to select, but I also want our broader community to get a chance to know him better,” Tseng said of Rocha.
The district has since told community members of the board’s decision via email, and distributed a community survey asking what personal and professional characteristics they want to see in their new superintendent.
The board has also scheduled a “meet and greet” with Rocha for community members to get to know him better before the board’s regular meeting on Jan. 28, and will discuss the results of the survey and next steps during the meeting.
“The board invites parents, students, staff and community members to meet and learn more about Acting Superintendent Heath Rocha, who is currently the finalist for the Superintendent role,” the email reads.
The meet and greet is set for 5-6 p.m. at the district offices, located at 17421 Farley Road West in Los Gatos. The regular board meeting will follow at 7 p.m.