Riverbank Unified School District (RUSD) has a new Board President, Diana Gonzalez and a new Board of Trustees member for Area 2, Katie Wedge. The board members also announced at the regular board meeting earlier this month that they appointed Dr. Constantino Aguilar to fill the role of RUSD Superintendent as the current Superintendent Christine Facella will be retiring.

Aguilar’s employment as incoming Superintendent with the district will begin on April 3, as he will be working closely with Facella during her final few months in office. He will begin his new position as Superintendent on July 1.

During the meeting on Feb. 7, board member Ana Vigil shared some of Dr. Aguilar’s background.

“Dr. Aguilar has served in education for 26 years. Within those 26 years, he has held the position of Spanish teacher, Associate Principal, Principal, Executive Director of Technology and Innovation, and Assistant Superintendent of Educational Services in Merced Union High School district,” noted Vigil. “Dr. Aguilar has been recognized within the California Association of Latino Superintendents and Administrators (CALSA) organization, with the “Honoring Our Own” award, and Mentoring Minds California Administrator of the Year award. He has been recognized by the Association of California School Administrators Region 9 as Principal of the Year, Career Technical Education (CTE) Administrator of the Year, and District Principal and Co-Administrator of the Year.”

Diana Gonzalez, meanwhile, is new to mastering the meetings as Board President but she is not new to Riverbank or RUSD. She was employed by the district for 23 years and worked at a few different school sites in administration. She has also been a part of the California School Employees Association (CSEA), Chapter 31 union for many years.

“I am always helping people, always involved in the community, in the schools; you know no matter what was going on with the redistricting with the district and I was always involved,” said Gonzalez. “Suzanne (former board member Suzanne Dean) lived in my area and I said, you know what I am going to go for it. It was nerve-wracking. I felt awkward. It is a totally different role but I love it. It is an honor to be a school board member.”

This will be her third year serving on the school board. Gonzalez began her board service taking over Dean’s final two years for Area 3. Dean had a four-year term and did two years with Gonzalez finishing out the other two years. Gonzalez then ran for a full term which she is now serving until 2026.

“People think that we just come sit down and do a meeting,” added Gonzalez. “There is a lot more than just that. Our board, the team we have now, we get along very well. We talk it out. We don’t always agree but we talk it out. It is really nice. I love working with them.”

She was nominated for the Board President position and she happily accepted it. The Board President serves for one year and her reign began this past January.

“I really care and I love the students, the parents, the community,” remarked Gonzalez. “I have lived here for a long time. I went to the high school here and my brothers and sisters did, too.”

New board member Katie Wedge has two kids in the school district and is very passionate about education. In December she was sworn in for her four-year term. Wedge is a U.S. Navy veteran and in a sense was reminded of her military service when she took the oath of office as she noted that it is very similar.

“It was kind of reliving that moment as well as taking on a new step in this direction and so it was very emotional and very exciting,” explained Wedge when she was sworn in. “I take that oath of office very seriously, just like I did my military oath. It was a good feeling.”

Since taking the oath of office Wedge has hit the ground running with a conference in San Diego for trustee training, other workshops and special meetings. At the conference she said that she was able to bond with the other school board members.

“Unreal I guess is the word I would use,” expressed Wedge about being elected for the school board. “It was exciting. My family was very supportive of it which was really nice. I definitely want to thank the community for having the trust to elect me and definitely look forward to serving on the board to serve them as parents in the community and get more involved with the community and schools and working with the wonderful staff that we have at the district, the teachers, administrators, staff, just everybody. I thank everybody for their support and my family who have been big supporters of it so that has been a lot of fun.”