Dr. Julie Synyard, an assistant superintendent with the Cotati-Rohnert Park Unified School District, has been hired as the new superintendent of the Martinez Unified School District.
The Martinez school board on Monday unanimously approved a contract running through the 2023-24 school year.
“I just look forward to all the learning opportunities,” Synyard told district board members.
Synyard takes over for Christopher “CJ” Cammack, who had been the Martinez schools superintendent for four years when in July he accepted the superintendent’s job with the Fremont Unified School District.
On Monday night, Martinez school board President Jonathan Wright said Cammack left just when the district — like almost all others — was planning for distance learning under the ongoing coronavirus health crisis.
“We hope you’ll help us navigate the current times we’re in, with the COVID-19 pandemic,” Wright told Synyard.
He also praised Assistant Superintendent Helen Rossi for leading the Martinez district in key planning over the summer and start of school during “these most trying of times.”
Synyard had been in the Cotati-Rohnert Park district since November 2015; before that, she had spent two years as principal of Tamalpais High School in Mill Valley.
Her new contract calls for an annual salary of $210,000 per year. She will be enrolled in the State Teachers Retirement System. She officially begins her new job Oct. 12.