For the third time in as many years, Sonoma County\u2019s largest school district has named a new superintendent, this time choosing a career educator and administrator with more than 20 years of experience in the Oakland school district.<\/p>\n
The incoming Santa Rosa City Schools superintendent, Monica Thomas, will take over from Lisa August Hulme<\/a>, who has served in the interim role since April 2025 after the school board ousted the previous superintendent.<\/p>\n Thomas, a Ukiah native, has worked for the Oakland Unified School District since 2005, including as a school principal and in several administrative roles.<\/p>\n She is set to be formally appointed Wednesday, June 10, following a school board vote on her contract. She was selected by district trustees after a monthslong search to fill the post<\/a>.<\/p>\n \u201cI am honored to serve the Santa Rosa City Schools community,\u201d Thomas said in a written statement. \u201cMy leadership is rooted in the belief that when we cultivate strong partnerships between educators, families and administrators, we create the conditions for every student to thrive. I look forward to listening, learning and working alongside all of you to build upon the district\u2019s successes.\u201d<\/p>\n Thomas currently serves as the deputy chief of continuous improvement for the Oakland district. Her department manages student outcomes with aims to improve test scores and graduation rates, among other student achievement factors.<\/p>\n In Santa Rosa City Schools\u2019 announcement Thursday of her appointment, Board President Nick Caston highlighted Thomas\u2019 track record raising student improvement in Oakland, showing year-over-year improvements in math scores and declining chronic absenteeism rates in the post-pandemic years.<\/p>\n \u201cDr. Thomas has dedicated over 25 years to education, serving first in the classroom and as a school principal before advancing to district leadership,\u201d Caston wrote. \u201cAs a seasoned systems leader, she has established herself as a trusted mentor and supervisor, specializing in instructional leadership and operational efficiency.\u201d<\/p>\n Thomas, who has degrees in education, including a doctorate from UC Berkeley, is fluent in Spanish. She began working at Oakland Unified in 2005 as the founding principal of Greenleaf Elementary School, a TK-8 Spanish dual immersion language academy. She served eight years as Greenleaf\u2019s principal, then held two district administrative roles between 2013 and 2021 before taking over her current post.<\/p>\n Oakland Unified is one of the Bay Area\u2019s largest public school systems, with enrollment of more than 43,000 students \u2014 about three and a half times the student body of Santa Rosa City Schools.<\/p>\n The two districts have both struggled to balance their books in the face of declining enrollment and rising operational costs<\/a>.<\/p>\n Last July, Oakland Unified emerged from 22 years in state receivership stemming from a budget crisis so entrenched in 2003 that the district had to take a $100 million loan from the state and relinquish local power until the district could pay the loan back. Two months ago, the Oakland Superintendent of Schools Alysse Castro signaled that the district may again be in a precarious financial situation, issuing a \u2018going concern\u2019 notice on April 16.<\/p>\n Santa Rosa City Schools received a similar notice<\/a> from the Sonoma County Office of Education in September. That letter triggered some of the deepest cuts<\/a> the school district has ever seen to avert threat of state takeover.<\/p>\n Thomas is set to begin in the new job in July, with tensions still high with the district\u2019s unionized teachers and staff amid fallout from disputed cuts that included the dismantling of mental health support staffing across all campuses, the debut of two repurposed junior senior high school campuses and a reconfiguration of the district\u2019s costly special education offerings.<\/p>\n \u201cOne of the things we were looking for in a leader is someone who knows how to navigate these financial challenges,\u201d Caston said in an interview with The Press Democrat on Thursday morning. \u201cShe\u2019s coming from a much larger district and is able to navigate those challenges, but ultimately the ability to remain out of receivership rests with the resolve of the board of trustees.\u201d<\/p>\n The last two people to hold the job, including August Hulme and Daisy Morales, who was fired in April 2025, both were denounced in no-confidence votes held by the Santa Rosa Teachers\u2019 Association. Caston and Sonoma County Superintendent of Schools Amie Carter were also targeted in the latest of those union votes this past April<\/a>.<\/p>\n Santa Rosa City Schools officials said they were unable Thursday to provide Thomas\u2019 tentative salary before documents post Friday to the school board\u2019s public agenda for the Wednesday meeting. Given approval, Thomas is set to step into her new role on July 1.<\/p>\n