2019 Speakers

2019 We Believe Conference Speakers

Ray G. Seibert

Ray G. Seibert is the current Board President for Madera Unified School District. Trustee Seibert is a 30-year member of the Madera Unified Board of Education. He is a local almond farmer who also owns commercial real estate in Madera County. He is a lifelong Madera resident who attended Ripperdan School and then went on to graduate from Madera High.Trustee Seibert serves as a Board representative on the following committees:

• Budget and Finance Committee
• District Career Technical Education Committee
• California Association of Suburban School Districts (CALSSD)
• Madera Center for the Arts Partnership – Alternate
• Tr-Agency Committee

Todd Lile

Todd Lile is the current Superintendent for Madera Unified School District. Lile is a Madera native who attended both John Adams and Howard Elementary School and matriculated to Thomas Jefferson Middle School. At Madera High School, he was involved in athletics and student government. While attending Fresno State, he served as a special education paraprofessional for more than four years in Madera Unified. He served as a teacher for 13 years before earning his MA in educational leadership from the College of New Jersey. As an educator for 25 years, he has demonstrated a love of teaching and learning. After the birth of their first of three sons, he and his wife returned to California from teaching overseas where he eventually served as a vice principal and principal at Madera South High School. In 2015, he assumed the role of Chief Academic Officer for Secondary in Madera Unified before becoming Superintendent.

Stephen Reed

Stephen Reed is a senior at Madera High School. Reed was born in Vancouver, Washington. Throughout his four years in high school, he has been involved in multiple school sports, sang in the choir, has had a solo performance in two musical school plays, and involved in robotics. He is a Link Crew leader, holds office in Madera High’s California Scholarship Federation and part of the Class of 2019 student body. Reed has enjoyed his time at Madera High. He feels prepared to continue his education and is hopeful to attend a UC or CSU college.

Savaanah Garcia

Savaanah Garcia is a senior at Madera South High School. This is her fourth year on the softball team. Garcia recently signed her name on a National Letter of Intent to Drexel University. She became the first Stallions softball player to sign to a college. During the softball offseason, Garcia tries to help out other teams. She has been involved in golf, tennis, cross country, soccer, and track.

Sandon Schwartz

Sandon Schwartz is the current Deputy Superintendent for Madera Unified School District.  Schwartz is a Madera native who attended John Adams Elementary and Thomas Jefferson Middle School before graduating from Madera High School. Sandon received his Bachelors of Science Degree in Business Finance and his Masters in Business Administration from the Craig School of Business at Fresno State University. He later received his Single Subject Teaching Credential and Administrative Services Credential from Fresno State as well.  

Sandon has worked for Madera Unified School District for 22 years.  He began his career as a business teacher and coach at Madera High School.   During his teaching tenure, Schwartz also managed several large technology grants and served as an athletics coordinator.   He then transitioned into school site administration where he served as a vice principal at both MLK Middle School and Washington Elementary School.  This was followed by serving as the principal of both Pershing Elementary School and Madera South High School. Prior to being named as the Deputy Superintendent, Schwartz served as the Assistant Superintendent of Administrative and Support Services for the District.   He works closely with the following departments: Child Nutrition, Facilities Planning & Construction Management, Maintenance & Operations, Purchasing/Print Shop/Warehouse, Technology Support, and Transportation.

Schwartz comes from a family of educators who have served the district since its inception in 1966. 

Sheryl Sisil

Sheryl Sisil is the Assistant Superintendent of Educational Services for Madera Unified School District. Sisil is a Madera native who attended Millview Elementary and  Thomas Jefferson, and graduated from Madera High School.  Sheryl received her Bachelors of Science Degree and Teaching Credential at Fresno State University.  And later she received her Masters Degree in Administrative Services from Concordia University. After graduating from Fresno State Sheryl began her career in education as an Agriculture teacher at Firebaugh High School. In 2004, Sheryl began with Madera Unified where she was an Agriculture Instructor for three years and then served as a Vice-Principal for the School of Agriculture for six years and the Vice-Principal of Curriculum and Instruction for three years all at Madera South High School. Prior to being named the Assistant Superintendent Sheryl served for three years as the Director of College and Career Readiness.  Sisil worked closely with Career Technical Education (CTE) instructors, business partners, and industry stakeholders to develop and implement Career Pathways that will provide a solid workforce for the local business and industry partners.  In her time as the Director of College and Career Readiness for Madera Unified School District, there was a significant increase in the Career Technical Education programs as student’s enrollment nearly doubled in the last two years.

Babatunde Ilori

Babatunde Ilori is the Executive Director of Accountability and Communications (A&C) for Madera Unified School District. Ilori has a Masters of Business Administration from Washington University. He also has a Masters of Education in Educational Leadership from the Broad Center for the Management of School Systems. He received a Bachelor of Arts in Computer Information Systems at Azusa Pacific University. Babatunde has worked for Madera Unified since 2014.  His department works on developing ways to measure progress toward our goal to ensure every student is educated for college, equipped for career, and empowered with Character.  The guiding principle for his department is to ensure all students have an equal opportunity to graduate from Madera Unified with the greatest number of post-secondary options from the widest array of choices.  This will be done through the development of real-time action-oriented dashboard indicators which will be used to facilitate leadership in decision making and executing the Cycle of Inquiry (COI) process.  The department utilizes a five-step process to develop and monitor dashboard indicators. The A&C department is also responsible for the overall communications of the school district which includes coordination with the media, development of communication materials and other marketing collateral. Communications materials such as the Madera Minutes, the Radiant and district’s Facebook and Twitter social media accounts are created and managed by the A&C department. Further, the A&C department is responsible for facilitating the development of the Local Control Accountability Plan (LCAP).  The LCAP is the state required three-year plan outlining how the budget will be used to meet district and state goals and priorities. Before Madera Unified, he worked for Fresno Unified School District as the Chief of Staff and then Director of Equity, Access and Accountability.

Marty Bitter

Marty Bitter is currently the Director of Athletics for Madera Unified School District. Marty is a 1994 graduate of California State University Fresno where he earned a Bachelor’s degree in Kinesiology.  Bitter started coaching basketball at his alma mater Kerman High School in 1992.  It was through coaching that he discovered his passion for teaching and working with kids.  After graduation, he began coaching basketball at Madera High School and subbing within Madera Unified School District. In 1996, he was hired as a Physical Education teacher at Thomas Jefferson Middle School where he spent the first 9 years of his career.  After moving into the district office for one year, Bitter was able to become the first Athletic Director of Madera South High School. In 2005, Marty was very fortunate to be hired in a new position as Director of Athletics for Madera Unified.  Bitter has been in education for 23 years as well as serving on the CIF both at the Section and State levels.  He is currently the President of the Board of Managers for the Central Section and a State CIF Executive Board Member.

Marcheta Williams

Marcheta Williams is the Director of Visual and Performing Arts for Madera Unified School District. Dr. Williams has over 20 years of experience in teaching and administration. She is a graduate of the University of Cincinnati College Conservatory of Music, University of Southern California, Thornton School of Music, and the University of California, Berkeley. Dr. Williams has continued to expand the String Orchestra at the three elementary school sites and the middle school Jazz program for K-8. Madera Unified’s VAPA program has received the 2018  Best Communities of Music Education.

Rosalind Cox

Rosalind Cox is the Director of Facilities Planning and Construction Management for Madera Unified School District.  Rosalind received a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Economics from the University of California, San Diego and a Masters Degree in Economics from San Diego State University.

In 2005, Rosalind began with Madera Unified where she was the Facilities Planning Analyst for a year before serving in her current position.   Under Rosalind’s leadership, the department oversees new construction and modernization of all district facilities and is responsible for the district’s short and long-term facility needs, enrollment and staffing projections, as well as attendance boundaries.

Since 2005, the District has built and opened seven new schools, two new aquatic complexes, completed various athletic improvement projects, and modernization projects.  Currently, the department is overseeing the construction of the new Matilda Torres High School project (scheduled to open August 2020), the new Concurrent Enrollment Middle School (scheduled to open August 2020), the CTE Modernization project at Madera High School, and the Athletic Field Improvement Project at Madera South High School.

David Hernandez

David Hernandez is the Director of Family and Community Services and Parent Resource Centers for Madera Unified School District (MUSD) who has a passion for helping and educating parents. He is responsible for managing a full range of parent engagement programs district-wide, and has been instrumental in the development and management of the Parent Resource Centers, which are designed to assist MUSD’s overall mission and quality education standards. Mr. Hernandez has served Madera Unified students and families since 1997 and has 35 years of experience overseeing successful award-winning parent engagement programs. He is a graduate of Madera High School with a Bachelor of Science Degree in Business Administration.

He serves on multiple Boards throughout Madera County including: Community Action Partnership of Madera County (CAPMC), Madera Linkage Foundation, Madera Dollars for Scholars, Madera Opportunities for Resident Enrichment and Services , Inc. (MORES), Madera County Inter Agency Children and Youth Council, and the California Association for Bilingual Education (CABE).

The Department of Community Services and Parent Resource Centers works in partnership with a host of community agencies, MUSD departments,  teachers, students, and parents to promote and maximize learning opportunities across the full spectrum of parent engagement.

Joe Halford

Joe Halford is the Director of Information Technology for Madera Unified School District.  Director Halford has over a decade of experience in the Information Technology field with a Masters Degree in Cyber and Information Security from Capitol Technology University.  Director Halford’s career in Information Technology includes experience in the private sector, non-profit, and public education.

The Information Technology department is responsible for technology throughout the district.  Examples of this work include:

• Maintaining a fleet of over 18,000 student computing devices used in daily instruction.
• Insuring a seamless high speed wireless and wired network is available for staff and students at over 30 locations throughout Madera.
• Maintaining the security and integrity of student and staff data.
• Providing expertise to other departments as needed when planning new projects that require technology.

Some of the major projects conducted in Information Technology since Director Halford joined MUSD in 2016 include:

• Extensive network wiring and wireless network improvements throughout the district.
• Security Camera system upgrades at Madera High and Madera South High.
• Implementation of software technologies that streamline computer access for new hires while improving security.
• Selection and deployment of modern display technology to replace aging technology in classrooms.

Standardization of 1:1 computing throughout grade levels