GILROY—Gilroy’s nearly 12,000-student public school system has its first official, full-time spokesperson.
Rachel Zlotziver, 30, assumed the position of Gilroy Unified School District public information officer in August.
“It’s a big undertaking to create something that has not existed here before, it’s really exciting to be able to do that,” said Zlotziver, who works directly for Superintendent Debbie Flores.
The salary range for the new position is $71,976 to $95,964 in six salary steps. Zlotziver will start at a yearly base salary of $86,368. With benefits, the annual cost of the position in the first year will be $116,157.
The San Jose resident comes to GUSD after three years with the Santa Clara County Office of Education where she worked as a staff liaison, then as a public relations specialist.
Before that, she worked for nearly five years for the office of former California State Assemblyman Jim Beall of San Jose as an office manager and field representative.
The newly created position was recommended by the school board’s Communications and Recognitions subcommittee and approved May 28.
“The committee felt that this position was needed to increase and improve communications with the schools and community, develop awards/recognition programs, deal with crises [such as] the death of high school students last May, develop a more effective website and many other tasks,” Flores told the Dispatch.
The job posting drew 14 applicants who were narrowed down to four selected for second interviews, she said.
“Rachel was the top candidate in both rounds of interviews,” and was selected due to her strong background in communication and public relations, according to the superintendent.
“We were very impressed with her responses to our interview questions, with her written response to a prompt, and with her portfolio. Our first impressions have been confirmed in her first month in the position,” she said.
As part of Zlotziver’s duties, she will work on the district’s website, and coordinate a newsletter and recognition programs.
Coming from the county’s office with 400 staffers and little contact with classrooms, teachers or students, Zlotziver said, “It’s nice to be able to go and visit the campuses … really wonderful to come into an office where it seems everyone is really committed to what they are doing and are a close-knit community.”
She said she looks forward to “building a really strong communications program, keeping the community informed and fostering a sense of pride in our schools.”
Zlotziver graduated from UC-San Diego with a BA in history.
