Griffin Technology Academies announces new board officers – Times-Herald
The Griffin Technology Academies Board of Directors announced several new leadership positions on Wednesday, including new Board Chair Shawna Gilroy, Board Vice-Chair Vivian Wesley and the appointment of Nick Driver as permanent superintendent.
Driver has spent nearly two decades in a variety of roles serving students and the charter school community. As a founding staff member at the California Charter Schools Association, he supported GTA and its schools beginning in 2004.
“I’m very excited about the future of GTA and our new school leadership,” Driver said in a news release. “I’m incredibly honored to be selected as permanent Superintendent and entrusted to lead our schools forward. Ms. Gilroy and Ms. Wesley are committed leaders, and also strongly believe in supporting the Vallejo community through activism, volunteerism, and resilience — and I’m convinced they will continue to bring that same commitment to their new board roles.”
A resident of Vallejo since 2014, Gilroy is the current Advertising Director and Community Engagement Manager for the Vallejo Times-Herald. She is active in the Vallejo Rotary and Vallejo Chamber of Commerce serving in leadership positions for both organizations. She has led several local initiatives including Vallejo Waterfront Weekend, Leadership Vallejo, Visit Vallejo, and ReBuilding Together Solano County. She was elected to the GTA Board in September 2021.
Wesley joined the GTA Board in June 2017, but her experience with GTA schools dates to 2004 when her twin daughters became Griffins in sixth grade. Over the years, she has been an active volunteer in the Parent-Teacher Networks, the African American Parents Association, and a regular participant in the GTA Strategic Planning sessions.
The changes come as one of the remedies taken to address the Vallejo City Unified School District’s Notices of Violation sent out in April. A Notice of Violations is the first step in initiating charter revocation proceedings against the four charter schools. If not corrected, the VCUSD Board can consider the action of sending a Notice of Intent to Revoke to one or more of the four schools — Mare Island Technology Academy middle and high schools as well as Griffin Academy middle and high schools.
On June 6, administrators, teachers, and students of Griffin Technology Academies submitted the school’s response to the Notices of Violation. That same day GTA’s Governing Board of Directors approved the legal presentation and the Pathway Forward plan which features five priorities — Government/Leadership, Budget/Finance, Instructional Programming, Accountability for Student Results and Safe Facilities.
“I’m encouraged our Pathway Forward plan will provide VCUSD and the entire GTA school community with the confidence that our schools are moving in a positive direction for our students,” said Driver earlier this month. “For the past three months, our administrative team has worked tirelessly with VCUSD as well as experts in various fields to remedy the numerous errors made by previous GTA administrations.”
Driver also told the Times-Herald that progress was being made to remedy the issues and that the school community became distracted over the past several years, saying the pandemic and failed school leadership “knocked us off our game” and said the situation was a “big wake-up call.”
“While continuing to make great strides academically, our organization as a whole should have done better responding,” Driver said in a news release earlier this month. “GTA neglected our current campus sites. We stopped recognizing and appreciating our great teachers. And, we failed to engage our families about the great things happening at our schools. It’s my job to deliver on our promise to GTA families, and to the entire Vallejo community — to learn from previous mistakes and become a stronger organization going forward. Each of our middle and high schools is bouncing back — and next year will be our best year in many years. We are so appreciative of the trust our families placed in us to educate their children.”
In addition to the elevation of Gilroy and Wesley, GTA Board Members include long-time board member Andrea Wynn, and new board members Rebecca Hartman-Baker and Luis Rosales. Alex Insaurralde will return to GTA as its Chief Academic Officer.
GTA is hosting a free community BBQ at 2 Positive Place in Vallejo on Saturday from noon to 3 p.m. There will be food and music as well as a chance to tour the GTA’s new classroom.
Gloss