Pomona Unified board begins work to replace superintendent
POMONA - With the superintendent of the Pomona Unified School District nominated for a federal education post in the Obama administration, school board members are preparing to find her replacement.
At this week's board meeting, counsel Kasey Haws announced an item would appear on the June 23 meeting agenda to discuss the selection of a successor for Superintendent Thelma Melendez de Santa Ana.
Board President Andrew Wong said Thursday Melendez de Santa Ana must still be formally nominated and go through a Senate hearing process over her nomination as assistant secretary for elementary and secondary education.
The job would make her a principal adviser to Secretary of Education Arne Duncan.
While that happens, the board will begin discussion on the steps it must take should Melendez de Santa Ana be approved for that position.
Wong said he wants a search for a replacement that involves plenty of community involvement.
"I want to make sure we have as much community input as we can," he said.
Board member John Avila said when Melendez de Santa Ana took over one of the things she was asked to do was to engage the community.
She made a commitment to working with the community and has tapped into the community's energy and willingness to become involved in education, Avila said.
With that has come greater input from the community.
"We are now at a point where we are comfortable" with receiving input, he said.
For Melendez de Santa Ana and for the board, it has been very important "to have the district be open and very transparent," said board member Steve Lustro.
Under a previous superintendent there was a general feeling among district stakeholders and others that the top administrator and the school board weren't listening to what they had to say, he said.
"I believe Dr. Melendez has gone to great lengths to reverse that," Lustro said.
Wong said the scope of the search is something that must also be discussed.
When the board began the search the led to hiring Melendez de Santa Ana, Wong was critical of the process, he said.
Wong said he would have preferred a national search but it was limited to those working for the district.
Melendez de Santa Ana didn't work for the district at the time but she had worked there before as a deputy superintendent and chief academic officer.
The district will probably hire a consultant or a search firm to assist in finding Melendez de Santa Ana's replacement, Lustro said.
A search "at the minimum would be regional but it will more likely be national," Lustro said.
He said he wouldn't want the search to be a drawn-out process but he's not sure there is enough time to have a new superintendent in time for the start of the new school year.
What a prudent period of time to carry out the process is something a consultant or search firm will have to help determine, Lustro said.
Board members said the critical issues is to find the best possible superintendent for the district.
By the end of June many of the questions as to Melendez de Santa Ana's nomination proceedings should have been answered and the board members will have a better idea of what its next steps will be, Lustro said.
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