Tucson Unified hires district communications director

The TUSD Governing Board unanimously approved the hiring of Cara Rene Tuesday.

Her primary responsibilities are directing and managing activities related to district public and media relations; coordinating the distribution of information and district responses to events and inquiries; and coordinating marketing, special events, programs and activities, among other duties.

Rene worked for the Tucson Citizen through 2008, first as a features writer/columnist, then later as a features editor, senior manager for online and multimedia, and as a senior editor.

From 2008 to 2010 she served as the vice president of community development for the Downtown Tucson Partnership.

Other changes happening in the TUSD organization include the departure of Donna Lewis — the district’s director of middle schools. She will be taking a job as assistant superintendent for curriculum and instruction in the Glendale Elementary School District.

As director, Lewis’ annual salary was $100,224. Her last day is Friday.

TUSD’s Chief Human Resources Officer Nancy Woll will be making a move at the end of the month to the district’s legal department where she will serve as legal counsel.

Woll, an attorney, worked in TUSD’s legal department prior to serving as the HR Chief.

She will join staff attorney Sam Brown and lead legal counsel Martha Durkin.

Woll’s salary as legal counsel has not been finalized, but she says it will be a pay cut from her current salary of $108,150.

There are two other high-level openings in TUSD — director of transportation, a position that has been vacant since March, and director of information technology infrastructure.

The IT position is new and  comes with a salary of as much as $87,000.

John Gay, TUSD’s head of technology, says the department is in deep need of senior management for the infrastructure program.

For more information on the open positions, go to https://tusdjobs.tusd1.org/