Natomas Unified School District Board President Susan Heredia knew that she would be assuming the role of President of the California School Board Association in 2022. She was the President-Elect for the organization. But that responsibility came sooner than expected. Last week, Heredia learned that she would need to step into that role immediately due to the unfortunate health concerns of the CSBA President. With 21 years of experience serving as a school board member, all right here in Natomas Unified, and a longtime career in education, Heredia is now the President of CSBA, representing 5,000 school board members from across California.
“Ever since I was an elementary teacher years ago at Washington Elementary School, I always advocated for children and families and felt a responsibility to advocate for those who had less resources, were unfamiliar with school systems, and less inclined to voice their thoughts related to school matters. I’m fortunate to be able to continue to do that through my work as a Natomas Unified School District Board of Trustee and now CSBA President,” said Heredia. “The work of CSBA is aligned with the work in Natomas. In both roles, I strive to strengthen our public schools, focus on best practices and culturally relevant programs for student success, enhance student well-being, and ensure that high quality programs and resources to support student needs are in place.”
One of the benefits of her role as CSBA President is getting an opportunity to hear and learn how other districts are implementing programs and policies that support students and the ability to share some of her own experiences in Natomas. “NUSD is one of the best districts in the region on many levels, but in particular social-emotional supports. This is a nationwide focus that frequently comes up in meetings with superintendents and board members. I can look at the significant progress that we’ve had in that area in Natomas and share our successes to help others.”
As a long time resident of Natomas, Heredia beams with pride when she talks about the district. She will serve as CSBA President for the remainder of this term which ends 2022 and assume her own term later in 2022. She was re-elected to the Natomas Unified School District Board of Trustees last November.
In addition to teaching and training other teachers in K-12 education, she has spent her career in higher education where she taught and supervised students at UC Davis and Sacramento State University. At Sacramento State University she served as Chair of the Bilingual/Multicultural credential program and later Chair for all the graduate programs in the College of Education.
