Kubin named ‘Woman of the Year’
Has served as UUSD superintendent since 2012
Citing her response to the Covid-19 pandemic as “leading an amazing effort,” Assemblymember Jim Wood (D-santa Rosa) announced this week that he has selected Ukiah Unified School District Superintendent Debra Kubin as 2021 Woman of the Year for Assembly District 2.
“Kubin responded to the Covid pandemic by leading an amazing effort to not only help continue the education of Ukiah’s students, but oversee an amazing effort to make sure that more than 3,000 students who need food support have received daily meals, including students who attend charter and private schools,” Wood is quoted as saying in the press release announcing the honor Monday.
The press release describes Kubin as “working with the district’s food distributors to ensure that they received the necessary amount of food, and at the same time, worked to assist students in transitioning to remote learning by providing all sixththrough 12th-grade students with Chromebooks. For those who did not have access to the internet, (the district) purchased 150 hot spots that were distributed to
families who live in remote areas of the district.”
Wood also describes Kubin as working “with the city of Ukiah and a district team including their food services director, workers, bus drivers, maintenance workers and volunteers, to improve the reach of their meal drive-thru program by ensuring that the needs of the children who do not have transportation to pick up the food were met by delivering meals by bus to regular bus stops.”
With almost 30 years of experience in education, Kubin has been superintendent of UUSD since 2012. She is a Mendocino County native who attended Willits schools before earning her Bachelor’s Degree from the University of California Davis, then her two teaching credentials and Master’s Degree from San Diego State University. She taught middle school Language Arts and High School Leadership before becoming an administrator.
“Thank you so much for this honor,” Kubin is quoted as saying. “I am grateful to the staff at Ukiah Unified and all they have done in the last year to serve our kids and families! I would also like to thank my three kids — Olivia, Jacob and Sydney—and my family for everything they do to support me!”