Tami Pearson named new superintendent of La Puente Valley ROP

By Richard Irwin, Staff Writer

Tami Pearson hasn’t travelled far geographically, but the Hacienda Heights native has certainly gone a long way in her career.

The local educator was recently named the new superintendent of the La Puente Valley Regional Occupational Program.

Board President Anthony Duarte says Pearson brings a wealth of experience with her to the new job.

“It was a tough selection, because we had so many good candidates,” the Hacienda La Puente School Board member said. “But, Tami served on the district’s coordinating committee and had an intimate knowledge of ROP, so we knew she could hit the ground running.”

Duarte said the unanimous selection was a step in the right direction to mend fences between the district and ROP.

In March of 2013, the district notified ROP that it wanted out of the cooperative. This angered the other two school districts, Rowland Unified and Bassett Unified.

At the time, Hacienda La Puente Unified contributed almost 60 percent of the ROP budget, while Rowland gave 30 percent and Bassett 10 percent.

Then Associate Superintendent Cindy Parulan-Colfer said Hacienda La Puente paid ROP nearly $3 million, but only received classes worth $1 million.

“It’s about being fair,” Parulan-Colfer said. “We have no intention of getting rid of career-tech education.”

Since then, the three districts have reached a new agreement with ROP. And relations have improved. For more, read ROP