At the 2021 winter meeting of the Delegate Assembly, which took place in San Diego Nov. 30 and Dec. 1, it was confirmed that Dr. Susan Heredia of Natomas Unified School District will continue to serve as CSBA’s President in 2022.
Susan Markarian of Pacific Union Elementary SD will serve as President-Elect in 2022 and Santa Clara USD’s Albert Gonzalez, who is also the Region 20 director for CSBA, will be Vice President.
Dr. Heredia took the reins of the presidency early at the end of May 2021, following the passing of Pleasant Valley USD trustee and CSBA President Suzanne Kitchens. Dr. Heredia is a professor of Education, Emerita at California State University, Sacramento and a lifelong educator and advocate of underserved children. The Sacramento native began her career as a bilingual teacher in the Sacramento City Unified School District and taught in the credential program at the University of California, Davis. She was also chair of the Bilingual Multicultural Education Department and Graduate and Professional Studies in Education Division at CSU Sacramento. An active member of CSBA, Dr. Heredia has served as CSBA’s Director-At-Large, Hispanic, as well as chair of the organization’s 2019 Annual Education Conference Committee. Dr. Heredia has also been a member of the association’s Policy Platform, Board Development, Bylaws, and Golden Bell Review committees, as well as CSBA’s Equity Network, Accountability Task Force, No Child Left Behind Task Force, Federal Issues Council and Governance Study Group. In 2021, Dr. Heredia was appointed to the California Commission on Teacher Credentialing where she represents school board members in CTC decisions regarding teacher preparation and more
Markarian, who is a farmer and a staunch advocate for the state’s rural students, was elected Vice President of CSBA in 2020 and helped lead the association through a year of school reopenings and the challenges that accompanied it. She was elected to the Pacific Union Elementary SD board in 1985. Her experience includes deep engagement with local organizations as well as on a statewide level with CSBA. She has been a director of the Fresno County School Trustees Association since 1989, spent 12 years as a CSBA Delegate and for 18 years represented Fresno, Kings, Mariposa and Madera counties as a CSBA Regional Director. Markarian has served as CSBA’s Governmental Relations Chair, Chair of its Annual Education Conference, and sat on its Small Schools Advisory Council, and Finance and Board Development committees.
Gonzalez is currently CSBA’s Region 20 Director representing Santa Clara County. Serving as a Delegate in the Delegate Assembly since 2010, in 2014, Gonzalez was elected to the Board of Directors. He has served on the organization’s Legislative Committee since 2012 and has been a board member in Santa Clara USD since 2008.
“Fellow board members I am very excited about being your next Vice President and looking forward to working with the current Executive Team,” Gonzalez said. “This year will be a year of listening and learning, which will help me better understand your districts, so that we can more effectively collaborate with each other to move CSBA forward. This will help in the very important work of providing the governance tools needed, so that we can all provide the best educational opportunities for every student in California’s public schools. This will require all of us to stay engaged.”
Additionally, longtime Director-at-Large, African American, Bettye Lusk of Monterey Peninsula USD was re-elected. Crystal Martinez-Alire of Elk Grove USD was also re-elected Director-at-Large, American Indian. Region 11’s Michael Teasdale from the Ventura County Office of Education was named the Director-at-Large, County.
