Twin Rivers nears superintendent pick amid enrollment, charter fiscal concerns
Twin Rivers Unified School District is expected to approve a new superintendent on June 23, as the district looks to address fiscal oversight concerns involving Highlands Community Charter and the district’s historic enrollment decline.
On Monday, the district began interviewing superintendent candidates, with interviews scheduled to continue Tuesday. With the district’s outgoing superintendent, Steve Martinez, leaving the position in October after 13 years, the new superintendent is set to begin on July 1.
“Candidate interviews and related discussions are taking place in closed session, and no additional details are being provided while the process is underway,” district spokesperson Zenobia Gerald said.
Among the challenges awaiting the new superintendent is how to respond to a state audit that found Highlands Community Charter and Technical Schools received about $180 million in K-12 funding for which it was not eligible during the 2022-23 and 2023-24 fiscal years.
On its superintendent search web page, the district mentions the “fiscal and governance irregularities” at Highlands, saying the new superintendent will need to navigate fiscal vulnerabilities tied to the charter schools.
Although the Sacramento County Board of Education overturned TRUSD’s decision to revoke Highlands’ charters, it remains unclear who, if anyone, will be required to repay the funding.
Highlands has since filed a formal appeal of the audit finding. According to the California Department of General Services, there are two consolidated Office of Administrative Hearings audit appeal cases involving the charter, and one hearing covering both cases is scheduled for October 19-21.
The district also pointed to ongoing enrollment concerns, noting that enrollment has fallen from about 37,000 students at the time of the merger in 2008 to just over 24,000 today.
California has seen a gradual decline in K-12 enrollment over the past decade, with public school enrollment falling by about 7%, or roughly 429,000 students, between 2014 and 2024 — from about 6.2 million students to about 5.8 million — according to a 2026 report by the Public Policy Institute of California.
The new superintendent “must have a credible, creative strategy for enrollment stabilization and continued fiscal sustainability, and will capitalize on new housing in portions of the district experiencing growth,” the district says on its website.
