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Herald Publications - Inglewood, Hawthorne, Lawndale, El Segundo, Torrance & Manhattan Beach Community Newspapers Since 1911 - Circulation 30,000 - Readership 60,000 (310) 322-1830 - October 19, 2017
Rice Auditorium Ribbon-Cutting
The ribbon-cutting ceremony for the new Rice Auditorium at Leuzinger High School took place on October 10. Pictured are Lawndale Mayor Robert Pullen-Miles, Centinela Valley Union High School District
Board of Education Clerk Rocio Pizano, Board Vice President Hugo Rojas, Board President Gloria Ramos, Leuzinger Principal Pam Brown, Board Member Marisela Ruiz, and District Superintendent Dr.
Gregory O’Brien. Photo Courtesy of Centinela Valley Center of the Arts
Wiseburn School Board Looking to
Select New District Superintendent
By Duane Plank
Barely six weeks into the new school
year, and with the work on the new edifice
on Douglas Street that will house the new
high school continuing to move forward, the
Wiseburn School Board bumped up its normal
Thursday meeting to Tuesday last week so
that all the assembled members could hear
a presentation led by Leadership Associates.
The search firm is tasked with looking for a
new superintendent for the Wiseburn Unified
School District (WUSD) with Tom Johnstone
set to retire at the end of the school year after
more than 10 years on the job.
The bulk of the nearly two-hour meeting
involved the delineation of the selection process
for the new superintendent as the construction
process winds down on Douglas Street. The
opening launch celebration for the high school
is set for early December.
Said Johnstone, regarding the new school
launch: “My goal is to provide the most
outstanding education for our kids, and that
is happening.” He noted he had received a
little push-back, but added, “I don’t care if it
is charter, I don’t care whatever--that is my
mission and I am convinced that it is happening
and I have a clear conscience.”
Johnstone is looking for a quick move-in to
the new digs on Douglas Street, but all of that
is predicated on the fire safety sign-offs, and
other i’s dotted and t’s crossed.
Vince Madsen, Director of Facility Planning,
chimed in on where the Douglas Street project
is standing in mid-October: “Basically we are
still finalizing all the mechanical and fire life
safety systems in the building and have had
preliminary inspections and rework ongoing
with re-inspections getting scheduled in the
hopes of getting things signed off by the end
of the month.”
Leadership Associates partner Peggy Lynch,
one of the principals heading the search for the
new superintendent, spoke to the Board about
potential candidates during a closed session
meeting. Once the open meeting kicked off,
Lynch listed the characteristics that the Board
wants to see in choosing the new superintendent,
including gathering community and staff input;
utilizing an online survey, enhanced with position
description; establishing a search timeline; and
setting up a meeting schedule that will lead to
the new contract.
According to Leadership Associates and the
Board, the timeline currently in place involves a
mid-November gathering of community staff and
staff input; a January 12 deadline for receiving
applications; and an early February Board
meeting to “discuss applicants and determine
who they will interview,” with interviews
scheduled for late February. Johnstone said
the hope is for the new superintendent to be
in place no later than mid-May, so that the
new hire can work with Johnstone for about
six weeks before the latter retires.
Board Vice President JoAnne Kaneda noted
that she will lament Johnstone’s retirement:
“The WUSD community has an opportunity to
define and select our new superintendent. Our
search firm plans to involve our community
groups, WUSD staff and the Board to join in
this important decision,” she said. “We salute
Dr. Tom Johnstone for 10 years of dedication to
WUSD. We will build on our strong foundation
with our new superintendent. “
Board member Neil Goldman also gave
praise to the retiring Johnstone: “We salute Dr.
Tom Johnstone for 10 years of dedication to
WUSD,” he said. “We will build on our strong
foundation with our new superintendent. Dr.
Tom Johnstone has remained an exceptional
superintendent serving our district and
community for 10 years. We have immensely
large shoes to fill when he retires at the end of
this school year. We have started the process
of searching for a new superintendent with the
Board sharing our priorities at this last meeting
and now will be seeking extensive community
input through surveys and meetings with
parents, residents, businesses, and community
and educational partners. We look forward to
hearing and learning from the community in this
very important process and decision.”
Wendy Tsubaki, who was recently selected
as the classified employee of the year in the
district and serves as Johnstone’s right-hand
staff person with nearly two decades of service
to the District, also praised her boss. Tsubaki
emailed that “when you meet [Johnstone], you
will feel as if you’ve known him all your life. It
has been one of my greatest honors to support
such a great human being. Upon meeting Tom,
he will more than likely take you on the journey
of Wiseburn. I have worked in Wiseburn for
some 18 years now in various forms and jobs
and I can tell you that I continue to love and
adore this wonderful community and district. Our
board members are prestigious, honorable,
community-minded people that I also am proud
to call my friends. This is just a wonderful place
to be. We certainly have our ups and downs
like any organization, but we remain committed
that ‘together as a community’ we can make it
through anything.”
The second presentation Tuesday evening
involved the launch of Tromba, which is the
new District calendar system linking dates
between Wiseburn and Da Vinci. Assistant
Superintendent Chris Jones emailed, “It was
very complex to create a calendar system that
included all Wiseburn and Da Vinci schools,
including sports and the arts. The benefit of the
new system is that it allows the user to move
quickly between school calendars. Users can
also subscribe to the calendar or add specific
events to their personal calendar on their phone
or computer. These events will be updated and
changes will show for the user. You can also
set up email or text reminders. We are happy
to provide this new tool for our Wiseburn
and Da Vinci families. The Tromba calendar
system puts a lot of important information at
their fingertips!”
The next Wiseburn School Board meeting is
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