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Orange County administrator Sonia Llamas will join Riverside Unified School District as the new superintendent next month.
Llamas, who is the previous associate superintendent of education and student services at the Orange County Department of Education, was hired by the school board Thursday, June 26 during closed session.
“The Board is committed to high standards for our students’ education, and we believe Dr. Llamas’ expertise, experience, advocacy, and empathy make her well-suited as our next leader,” board President Brent Lee said in a district news release. “Our community spoke clearly about the need for a dynamic, visionary administrator and we believe we have found that in Dr. Llamas.”
After a state-wide search based on community feedback, the district landed on Llamas, who “ultimately stood out for her commitment to student needs,” along with her “data-based decision making, and her expertise in building high-performing” teams, the district release says.
Llamas will begin her four-year contract July 14, with a base salary of $375,000 with a 3% yearly raise.
Llamas comes to the district from Orange County where she also served as the Chief Academic Officer for the county department of education. She spent 11 years with the Santa Ana Unified School District where she ended her tenure as the assistant superintendent of K-12 school performance and culture. She has also worked at Los Angeles Unified and Pasadena Unified.
She was recently recognized as the 2025 Woman of the Year in Education by Congressman Lou Correa for her commitment to transformative leadership and service to the community, according to the district release.
Llamas will replace Superintendent Renee Hill, who announced her retirement in February, after four years in the position. Hill was the second woman and first person of color to lead Riverside County’s second-largest public school system.
Llamas joins the district following a series of controversies.
In December, some called for Hill’s resignation in reaction to a November lawsuit alleging the district violated students’ First Amendment rights and denied students fair and equal access to athletics. In the federal lawsuit, a Martin Luther King High School student alleged she was replaced on her cross country team in favor of a transgender athlete.
Assemblymembers Leticia Castillo, R-Corona, and Bill Essayli, who is now a U.S. attorney for a district encompassing much of Southern California, both sought Hill’s resignation at that December session and alleged the district mishandled the incident and violated the free speech and other rights of female athletes.
In February the district announced a groundskeeper for the district was on leave after being charged with 19 felonies, including lewd acts on a minor younger than 14 years old.
And last week the California Joint Legislative Audit Committee voted to have the district audited by a state panel to investigate the alleged misuse of dollars from Measure O, a bond measure voters approved in 2016.
Llamas announced she would step down from her role in Orange County May 6, Ian Hanigan, a spokesperson for the Orange County Department of Education, said via text Friday, June 27. He said the county was grateful for her work during her tenure and they were excited for her new role in Riverside.
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