DUSD Hires New Principals, Assistant Principal, Head Of HR

DUBLIN, CA — The Dublin Unified School District Board confirmed four new hires, including two new principals, during its Tuesday board meeting. All four hires will assume their new positions on July 1, DUSD said in a news release.

Candice Baligaya will serve as the new principal of Fallon Middle School. Baligaya has served as the school’s assistant principal since August 2018. Since then, she has served as a member of the school’s leadership team, and helped execute the School Plan for Student Achievement goals, evaluated staff, helped implement the Intervention Program and Intervention Task Force, and helped manage the school’s Emergency Preparedness Plan, among many other initiatives.

Baligaya served as a middle school teacher at Fallon and instructional coach at Dublin elementary school sites before taking an administrative role. She holds a Master of Science in Applied Leadership from National University, a Tier 1 Administrative Credential from the Santa Clara Office of Education, as well as a Bachelor of Arts in Liberal Studies, Elementary Education and Teaching and Multiple Subject Clear Credential from California State University, Bakersfield.

Matt Britten will take over as principal of Frederiksen Elementary School. Britten has served as assistant principal of Wells Middle School since October 2018. At Wells, he worked to train staff on school wide initiatives, including Advancement Via Individual Determination and Character Strong. Before joining DUSD, Britten served as assistant principal of culture at Aspire Public School, a teacher at Lindsay High School, and as a teacher and instructional coach at Alliance for College-Ready Public Schools.

Britten holds a Masters in Educational Leadership and Administration, Social Justice from the University of California, Los Angeles, a Single Subject Teaching Credential from San Diego State University, and a Bachelor of Arts in English Language and Literature from the University of California, Santa Barbara.

Taiba Tahir will serve as assistant principal at Dougherty Elementary School. Tahir has served a number of educational roles since 2007, including as a teacher, grade level lead, admin designee, instructional coach, and tech coach. She has taught students in grades 3-8 in DUSD and in Hayward schools. In 2022, Tahir was honored as the Cottonwood Creek School Teacher of the Year.

She holds an Administrative Credential from California State University, East Bay and a Bachelors in Elementary Education and Teaching from the University of California, Irvine.

Michael Williams was named director of human resources. Williams has worked at Pleasanton Unified School District since 2014, where he has served as both head of HR and principal at Amador Valley High School. He has worked for over 17 years in the educational field, including as a teacher, vice principal, director and senior director of human resources. Williams holds a Masters in Educational Leadership and Administration from San Francisco State University and a Bachelor of Arts in Physical Education Teaching and Coaching from California State University, Chico.