Former Benicia schools superintendent to return to district on interim basis

BENICIA – The Benicia Unified School District is planning to bring back a former superintendent to lead the district while searching for a permanent replacement. 

The school board is expected to approve an employment contract for Janice Adams during its meeting Thursday. She would start the job on July 1, following the departure of Superintendent Damon Wright, who is leaving to lead the Santa Clara Unified School District. 

Adams, 73, said in an interview that school board President Cece Grubbs contacted her and asked if she would consider stepping in until they find a replacement. 

"My goal is to keep things moving in a forward, positive direction during the interim period,” Adams said. “I'm not coming in with an agenda.” 

Adams first joined the Benicia school district in 1990. She also taught in Arizona, at the Mt. Diablo Unified School District, and in Japan. She was vice principal in Fairfield and principal at Robert Semple Elementary. 

In 2007, Adams took on the job as Benicia Unified superintendent, and said she was brought on because teachers trusted her. During that period, the recession hit, and the district faced layoffs and cuts. 

The year she retired from Benicia Unified in 2015, Adams drafted the foreword to a report, "Schools in Transition: A Guide for Supporting Transgender Students in K-12 Schools." In the introduction, she recounts a mother who approached her about supporting her child, who was assigned male at birth but identified as a girl. 

"And I said, 'We would do everything we could to make the child feel welcomed and valued,’” Adams remembered. “We figured it out as we went.” 

Now, Adams returns to lead Benicia Unified as the Trump Administration targets diversity, equity, and inclusion programs, and threatens funding for public schools. 

"What part don't we support as educators: diversity, equity, or inclusion? I support all three of those. We include all children,” Adams said. “There's a lot of things that we're going to have to look at when we see what happens from the federal government.” 

School districts around the state are also coping with budget strains and declining enrollment. In February, Wright said Benicia Unified anticipated a $3.1 million dollar deficit by the end of the school year, and an additional $2 million shortfall by the close of the next school year. He said the budget shortfall was caused by declining enrollment, lower average daily attendance, and a significant gap in special education funding. 

District enrollment reached a high of 4,900 students in the 2011-2012 school year, and is projected to be roughly 4,300 in the 2025-2026 school year, a drop of about 12%, according to figures shared by the district. Kindergarten class enrollment had steadily declined each year. 

Adams sees her role as stepping in during a transition period rather than addressing those concerns as the district’s next longtime leader. She estimates she can only serve as the interim superintendent through November, because of the cap on her earnings after retirement.

“The district needs a full-time, permanent superintendent, that's what's in the best interest of the district. But I'm here to help out,” Adams said. “I just care a lot about the district, I always have. As a mother having three children go through the district — it matters a lot to me.”