Weekend Wrap: MUSD Board Announces New Leadership for District; Special Election Draws to Close; Meeting to Address Pickleball Problems; and Social Media Post of the Week
Former NFL player Frank Beede named Alhambra High principal; Vallejo assistant superintendent Gigi Patrick to assume top district leadership role
Editor’s note: An earlier version of this article incorrectly stated the date of the Parks, Recreation, Marina and Arts Commission meeting to discuss the pickleball issues at Hidden Valley Park. The meeting is Tuesday, June 17.
The following post by freelance writer Gage Walker is made possible through the financial support of paid subscribers and other donors to the newsletter. Please consider becoming a paid subscriber for $5 a month or $50 annually if not already to support more coverage of Martinez.
By Gage Walker
At its June 9 meeting, the Martinez Unified School District (MUSD) Board of Education made several notable announcements, including the hiring of a new superintendent and a new principal for Alhambra High School. The board also reviewed pressing fiscal and infrastructure updates.
In closed session, the board voted unanimously to appoint Frank Beede as the new principal of Alhambra High School. Beede, a former NFL player, UC Berkeley graduate and longtime educator, was introduced publicly during the meeting. A native of Antioch, he began his career as a history teacher and coach, later serving as assistant principal at Freedom High School before becoming principal of a TK-8 school in Knightsen. He also teaches ESL at the Martinez Adult Education program and lives locally in the community.
“Alhambra is the center of our town, and it's an extremely important role that I'm serving in. I want you to know that I do that with humility and respect,” said Beede, as he addressed the board following the announcement.
The board also announced the selection of Gigi Patrick as the district’s next superintendent. Patrick has over 25 years of experience in education and has served as the assistant superintendent of human resources for Vallejo City Unified School District since 2020. The board praised her as a transformative leader and expects to finalize her contract at the next regular meeting on June 23.
The appointment also addresses the current lack of ethnic diversity among the district’s leadership team. Patrick is Black.
Patrick, who has a doctoral degree in education, will succeed Superintendent Helen Rossi, who is retiring after more than three decades of service to the district.
Later in the meeting, Chief Business Official Andy Cannon delivered a detailed presentation of the proposed 2025-26 budget. The district is projecting a modest 1.4% increase in overall revenue, driven largely by rising transitional kindergarten (TK) enrollment and associated state funding. Special education costs have also surged, with one new student placement costing nearly $300,000 annually, contributing to a projected structural deficit.
Cannon cautioned that, despite short-term stability, the district will need to cut approximately $2 million in spending over the next two years to maintain its required 3% reserve. Those reductions are likely to be discussed in the fall, after final enrollment figures are reported. He also noted that federal funding uncertainties, expiring grants, and rising health insurance premiums are tightening the budget.
In more optimistic news, Cannon provided an update on the district’s facilities master plan, which outlines how the district will spend the $90 million bond approved by voters under Measure O in the 2024 election.
The update includes new construction and renovation projects across the district, including a new music room at Martinez Junior High School, a second gymnasium, and new classroom building at Alhambra High School; renovations to the high school’s track and tennis courts; and a pair of new TK classrooms at Morello Park Elementary. The district is still exploring options for the adult education campus.
While the current cost projections total nearly $99 million, exceeding the bond allocation, district officials are optimistic that deferred state reimbursements and reserves in Fund 35 will help bridge the gap. Some of the first construction contracts are expected to be presented to the board for approval as early as June 23.
The board is scheduled to vote on the final budget and approve the updated facilities master plan at that meeting.
The following items were produced by Craig Lazzeretti
Race for MUSD Area 3 seat draws to a close
Tuesday is the last day to mail back or drop off ballots for the special election to fill the Area 3 vacancy on the Martinez Unified School District Board of Trustees. As reported earlier, the special election came about after enough signatures were gathered to terminate the board’s January appointment of Brittany Ayala to fill the seat vacated when Yazmin Llamas was elected to the Contra Costa County Board of Education in November.
Special elections challenging school board appointments are highly unusual, with the last known one in MUSD occurring in 1977. As a result of the termination of Ayala’s appointment, the board has operated with only four trustees since February, amid an ongoing budget crisis and search for a new superintendent. All four current trustees are white, in a district where more than 30% of students identify as Latino (Ayala is the daughter of Mexican immigrants).
Tuesday’s race pits Ayala against former MUSD teachers union president Brenda Leal, who was the other applicant for the board vacancy in January. At the time of the appointment, board members said both candidates were qualified but that they believed Ayala, the parent of two young children in the district, was the better fit for the vacancy. The special election is expected to cost the school district over $40,000.
The race has been spirited, with a number of brochures and mailers delivered to the 4,247 voters in Area 3. Leal’s campaign has highlighted her 30 years of teaching experience in the district, focus on educational programs, and commitment to providing a “fair wage” to retain and attract high-quality teachers. Ayala, whose work experience in the education field includes serving as a community college transfer specialist for UC Berkeley’s Center for Educational Partnerships, has focused increasingly on fiscal responsibility amid the school district’s ongoing budget woes that have prompted steep funding cuts, saying she will work to protect student resources while bringing accountability to taxpayers. MUSD’s budget challenges have steadily mounted amid years of enrollment declines, rising special education costs and staff salary increases totaling 26 percentage points over four years.
Ayala’s website: www.brittany4musd.com
Leal’s website: https://sites.google.com/view/brendalealformusd/home
More voter information on the election can be found on the Contra Costa County Elections website
Campaign finance data for the two candidates can be found by searching on the Contra Costa Elections campaign finance portal (disclosure: I contributed to Ayala’s campaign).
Parks commission to tackle pickleball noise on Tuesday
The Parks, Recreation, Marina and Arts Commission will get its chance to weigh in Tuesday on the complaints surrounding noise and other community impacts from the new dedicated pickleball courts at Hidden Valley Park, including possible solutions.
City Manager Michael Chandler addressed the matter at a City Council meeting last month, saying “we’ve been working through a lot of issue” since the debut of the eight dedicated pickleball courts at Hidden Valley in February.
The complaints have ranged from players clogging residential parking spaces to late-night distractions from court lighting to players bringing along pets and playing music at their games to, most prominently, the piercing noise generated from the plastic balls used in the sport.
Chandler said at the time that the parks and recreation commission would take the first stab at coming up with solutions, and commissioners will get their chance at Tuesday’s meeting, which begins at 7 p.m. in the Council Chamber at City Hall.
That will include evaluating a recommendation from city staff to modify the current pilot hours for pickleball play to 8 a.m. to 8 p.m., with a 90-day evaluation period to assess the effect. Signage would be updated accordingly, and lighting would be adjusted to align with the new schedule. Pickleball play hours currently extend to 9 p.m. on weekdays and 10 p.m. on Fridays and Saturdays.
Another issue that should receive significant discussion is potential equipment changes to incorporate “Quiet Category” paddles and other equipment to muffle the high-pitched sounds typical of the sport — an effort undertaken by other jurisdictions across the country but one that also has raised concerns about the impact on the nature of play. According to the staff report:
As an immediate step, staff recommends installing signage at the pickleball court entrance listing approved “Quiet Category” compliant paddles.
Staff also is asking the commission to consider the installation of security cameras in the immediate area to monitor play and ensure that it is in compliance with city rules. The cameras would come with an estimated one-time cost of $12,000.
Physical changes to the pickleball courts themselves seem like a less likely option. The cost to install additional sound blankets, for instance, would be an estimated $100,000, according to the staff report, “based on the need to remove existing fencing, construct a new foundation, and install more durable fencing capable of supporting the blankets. Constructing a concrete wall would be significantly more expensive.”
The report notes that neither solution “would fully eliminate noise impacts.”
Staff does not support installing gate locks, at an estimated cost of over $25,000, because it “feels this measure would be ineffective due to people propping the gates open or jumping the sections of 5-foot high fence.”
Members of the public can attend Tuesday’s meeting in person or via Zoom. The meeting agenda with remote participation options can be found by clicking here.
Social media post of the week
Want to get involved in shaping the future of the city? The city of Martinez is looking to fill a number of commission vacancies.
