Schools

Fred Brill Chosen to Lead San Lorenzo Unified School District

Fred Brill was given a four-year contract by the school board on Tuesday, Sept. 17.

The San Lorenzo Unified School District board members chose Fred Brill as the new superintendent starting on Monday, Oct. 7.

Brill will be replacing Superintendent Dennis Byas who is retiring at the end of the month after being with the school district for six years.

Brill was the superintendent of the Lafayette School District since 2008. He oversees 3,400 elementary and middle school students in Lafayette.

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According to an article in the Contra Costa Times, San Lorenzo’s diversity and size was appealing to Brill — who is a Chicago native and Berkeley resident.

"It's not a big monster bureaucratic district, and it's not a teeny tiny district. It's a good size for efficiency and intimacy and connectedness, which is important," said Brill. "I bring a sense of urgency in supporting the kids so that they have the opportunities to go to college and be successful in a career, and that is our job."

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Other than being the superintendent for the Lafayette School District, Brill has been an area superintendent for Oakland Unified School District, an assistant principal and principal for Lafayette’s Stanley Middle School, and was an English and history teacher at Albany High School. Before that, he started his career working with troubled youth at the Oakland-based Seneca Center. In 1990, he was apart of the Fulbright Teacher Exchange Program in former Czechoslovakia, says the Contra Costa Times.

The school board was looking at 17 applicants for superintendent.

“We were looking for someone willing to work and learn the community and learn our vision," said Norman Fobert, school board President. "He just seemed to fit the bill."


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