York Schools' Sebastian Heads to W&M

By Amber Lester Wednesday, April 28, 2010

York County Schools’ loss is The College of William and Mary’s gain.

York’s retiring Chief Academic Officer Lucia Villa Sebastian will join the college as coordinator of a Virginia Department of Education Title I grant to assist local schools failing to meet annual student accountability measures. Sebastian’s retirement will be effective July 1; the division hopes to have a replacement for her position by that time.

“While we will miss Lucia’s instructional leadership, she is perfectly suited to assist school divisions that are working on improving student achievement,” said Eric Williams, superintendent of York County Schools, in a release.

The Title I grant, worth more than $473,000, will pair leadership coaches with leaders in 42 Virginia school divisions that have one or more schools struggling to perform. Sebastian will supervise the leadership coaches assigned to each school division. She will also conduct analysis of each division’s improvement plan to determine if it identifies indicators of progress at the challenged schools and if the plan for each individual school matches the division-wide goals. Plan implementation, fidelity and evaluation will also be addressed in her analysis.

William and Mary’s portion of the grant will focus on developing leadership at the local level. The project is co-directed by professors Michael DiPaola and Steven Staples, both former superintendents. Staples led York County schools until retiring in 2008.

Dean of the School of Education Virginia McLaughlin said in a release, “We are pleased that William and Mary has been selected to lead this important initiative for school divisions across the Commonwealth. Lucia’s experience as a teacher, principal and central office educational leader will be a real benefit as we partner with K-12 educators to sustain student achievement growth.”

Sebastian will also serve as an executive professor in William and Mary’s School of Education. She will teach courses in educational policy and planning. She has already taught several education courses for the college on a part-time basis. McLaughlin said her addition as a full-time professor “adds richly to the strength and experience of our faculty.”