Girimonte Voted by Board to be 'Acting Principal'

Submitted by Dixon Unified School District

The Dixon Unified School District Governing Board voted unanimously at its meeting last night to appoint Nick Girimonte as the Acting Principal of Dixon High School for the 2012-13 school year.  Superintendent Brian Dolan recommended the appointment to the Board and President Irina Okhremtchouk announced the decision following the closed session vote.

 The principal position was vacant after the Board voted to non-reelect John Barsotti at a meeting last week.  Rather than advertise the opening and consider outside candidates, Mr. Dolan recommended that the Board appoint Mr. Girimonte as the acting principal to ensure a smooth transition and that a principal would be in place by the start of the school year. 

Mr. Dolan stated: “I have every confidence in Nick to take this position on rightnow.  In addition to meeting with him to discuss it for several hours this week, we interviewed Nick for the position last year when we did go through a full search to replace Ivan Chaidez.  He was a very strong runner-up, and with an additional year of experience under his belt, he is now ready to serve as our principal.”

 Mr. Girimonte was appointed as the acting principal largely due to the time constraints associated with a vacancy of this nature.  Mr. Dolan will work closely with Mr. Girimonte in the coming months and will make a recommendation to the Governing Board no later than January to make Mr. Girimonte permanent or to go out for a search.  Mr. Dolan explained, “This is the same process we employed five years ago when Mr. Chaidez was appointed as principal in late June.  It gives the person doing the job a chance to settle in and it gives us a chance to hear from students, parents, and staff that we made a good choice.”

 Mr. Dolan believes that Mr. Girimonte’s most pressing task is to restore student, parent, and community trust in the leadership of Dixon High as being attentive to and supportive of the student body.  “In this regard, Mr. Girimonte is uniquely qualified.  He grew up in Dixon, attended school here and is a DHS graduate.  As a teacher first, and as an administrator over the last three years, Nick has been respected by everyone and earned the trust of the community.  He will restore the sense of teamwork that was diminished in the past year and work hard to ensure that our students are learning at the levels they should be,” Mr. Dolan stated. 

Mr. Girimonte starts his duties immediately, meeting with Mr. Dolan on Monday to review staffing needs, master schedule completion, and other tasks related to the start of the new school year on August 8.