In Memoriam
By Leela Hensler
Dr. Frank William Wells passed away on March 11, 2024, after serving as Superintendent of the Albany Unified School District (AUSD) for nearly five years. A lifelong Bay Area resident, he was born on March 14, 1963, in San Francisco, California.
Wells joined the army and then returned to school, earning degrees from San Jose State University, Santa Clara University, and CSU Hayward. In his more than 30-year career in education, Wells held positions as a teacher, principal, superintendent, board member, and board president. He was also recently voted in as president-elect of the California Association of African American Superintendents and Administrators.
For many students at Albany High School, Wells was the superintendent who steered the district through the COVID-19 pandemic and who was known to them through his monthly Community Updates, which highlighted events and people throughout AUSD. For others, he was not just the man who appeared on Zoom school board meetings or whose emails arrived in their inbox each month — he was a mentor, a role model, and a life-changing source of inspiration and guidance.
“[Dr. Wells] pushed me to speak up and advocate more,” said senior Yunelly Garcia-Bustamante, one of the AUSD Student Board Members. “He changed what I thought I could achieve.”
Her fellow Board member, junior Ayush Deodhar, agreed.
“Before my first board meeting, Dr. Wells was really reassuring. I still remember him telling me ‘Don’t let other people change what you care about.’ Knowing that he was there to be supportive and wasn’t judging me meant a lot,” Deodhar said.
Wells’ passion for uplifting student voices in AUSD was shaped by his experiences as a student in Hunters Point, San Francisco. After overcoming a speech impediment at a young age, he struggled with reading until high school, and the impact that literacy had on his life sparked his passion for empowerment through education, according to his sister Karen Washington.
“His mission was to be one of those educators that made sure kids, especially kids of color, didn’t grow up illiterate,” Washington said. “He was determined that, you know, I’m not going to let this happen to anyone else. Any child I can make a difference with, that’s what I’m gonna do. And that’s what he did.”
As Superintendent, Dr. Wells continued ensuring that students of color were supported within AUSD.
“His vision was to have a support group for young men of color, and he put that vision into action,” said mental health specialist Will Cason.
Cason and Wells worked together for over two years on the Young Men of Color group, to create a non-judgmental space where Black and brown students could be comfortable being themselves. In 2023, they received a Certificate of Special Congressional Recognition from Representative Barbara Lee, whose district includes Albany, for their work in AUSD.
His passion for making lasting and meaningful change within the Albany community was “always visible,” Cason said. “Dr. Wells was courageous enough, and had enough integrity to engage in conversations where he would stop and ask people and understand what it was like to be in their shoes. At the middle and high school levels, he would talk to principals at both places and stop and ask ‘what do we need?’”
Wells went above and beyond to step up when there were issues present in his community, large or small. When principal Darren McNally had to take a leave of absence due to special family circumstances, Dr. Wells filled in as acting principal, spending the day working with students and staff at the high school and then continuing to fulfill his duties as superintendent after school was out for the day.
It was this same care for students’ well-being that would result in Dr. Wells pushing for programs such S3, the Student Success Space, at both the middle and high schools, and advocating for the implementation of an ethnic studies program for freshmen at AHS.
“He had a very long history in education, and he experienced a lot of discrimination as a student, so he knew exactly what disparities in education looked like and wanted to correct them,” Garcia-Bustamante said.
Even though nearly all of the students within the AHS community were impacted by his work, for those who didn’t know him well, she felt that “[Dr. Wells] would want students to remember him for all of the kids he worked with to ensure they could graduate and go on to secondary education, whose life paths he helped change.”
Reflecting on his friend and colleague’s impact, Cason said, “When they’re gone, we miss when we have leaders that pause to serve. I’m going to miss him dearly; it hurts — but it also brings me hope. Through the hurt there’s hope. There’s also a healing that will take place, and we will hopefully get to a place of harmony.”
Dr. Wells’ niece, Simone Combs, shared Cason’s sentiments.
“I know he did a job very well done on this earth and I feel blessed to have had him in my life. To have learned from him. To have witnessed such an incredible human being,” Combs said. “And I’m inspired to do better, to honor his life and the lives of all of my loved ones who are now on the other side.”
Dr. Frank Wells is survived by his wife, Monica Wells; his three children, Nehanda Wells, Frank Wells Jr., and Nyla Wells; his sisters, Tina Combs, Karen Washington, and Sonja Morley; his father, Frank Wells; as well as numerous nieces, nephews, extended family, friends, and colleagues.
