At the April 17 PUSD School Board Meeting, Trustees approved Malcolm Norrington as the new AVHS principal in a vote of 3 to 1 (Trustee Kelly Mokashi was absent).
Amador Valley has been without a permanent principal since August 2024 when Jon Fey was removed as principal; since then, Junior Yee has been interim principal.
The search for a new principal has been going on since March with interviews taking place at the beginning of April.
“Our principal needs to be supported at the district level and know that when we say we need XYZ, the principal feels comfortable coming to you saying, ‘My staff needs XYZ’ …They should be able to advocate for the wants and needs that our highly successful, educated, supportive staff know they need,” said AV teacher Shannon Heller.
Teachers, students and parents in the community all expressed their desire for a principal who wanted to make Amador a home for long period of time.
“I would like to see a principal that was here for more than a year or two. So, someone who’s in it for a while, this is not a stepping stone to something else. I’d also like someone who gets involved with the teachers, I love when they pop in the classroom, and they know the kids more, they know us more,” said AV teacher Bree Barnett-Dreyfuss.
The last long term principal Amador had was Bill Coupe, who was principal of AVHS for 12 years. He retired in 2010.
Amador has had 8 principals and 3 ‘acting’ or ‘interim’or ‘substitute’ principals over the past 16 years. (Acting, interim, or substitute principals are principals who step in temporarily while PUSD is looking for a permanent principal).
PUSD has not selected a woman for the AVHS principal position in over 25 years.
“We are an amazing staff, and so we need someone who’s going to foster that, and we do not need a micromanager. We know how to manage ourselves. We need a supporter and we need an advocate,” said Heller.
