By Theresa-Marie Wilson

At the request of the Lucia Mar Unified School District Board of Trustees, multiple meetings were held last week to garner feedback from school district stakeholders about what qualities they would like to see in their new superintendent.
Teachers, staff, parents, union reps, students and community members were given an opportunity to help create the personal and professional ideal for the district’s top administrator.
After seven years, Superintendent Jim Hogeboom announced he was leaving the position in May after being hired by the Novato Unified School District located in the Bay Area. He is expected to begin work on July 1.
“The purpose of this is to try to get a sense of what the community as a whole thinks is important in a new superintendent,” said Dennis Smith of Leadership Associates, the firm retained to help with the recruitment process. “What are the personal and professional qualities that are important, what are the strengths in the district, and what are the challenges in the district?”
About 15 people attended an open meeting at the meeting held at the Georgie O’Connor Board Room last Thursday. Suggested candidate qualifications include: placing students as the highest priority, history and knowledge of working with labor organizations, consensus building, innovation with follow-up, promoting and inclusive environment, a commitment to teachers, culturally appreciative, hiring and promotion skills as well as a visible and accessible presence.
The new superintendent will take over the job following long, often contentious, contract negotiations between the district and the teachers’ union.
Several people indicated that trust had to be restored between both parties in order to bridge the division between what had become an “us and them” population.
“I hope that this process will bring about a positive change for us and a new superintendent who understands and works well with the community,” said Suzi Zambo, a special education teacher at Oceano Elementary School.
“I hope the board is really willing to listen to the community, which includes parents and teachers. I am looking forward to working together as a team, administrators and teachers. That is the basis of the community and it always has been. We want to get that back.”

Virginia Roof, who has a first-grade student enrolled in Lucia Mar and two more children that will attend school in the district in the coming years, agreed.
“I wanted to have my voice heard and provide input for the hiring process. It has been a really challenging year. I just really want to see a mending of fences to move forward. These meetings show a lot that the board providing these opportunities for us to come out and participate.”
Representatives of Leadership Associates will compile input from all the meetings and present a position profile to the board for approval.
“We will recruit off of that,” Smith said. “That is really critical because in Lucia Mar there might be a lot of great superintendents out there who would do a good job, but they probably aren’t going to be the right fit for this district. Our job is to actively recruit candidates that fit that profile.”
Smith said he expects the pool of potential candidates to be narrowed down to eight to 10 solid contenders that will be vetted before an interview by the school board.
More feedback is needed. Folks are encouraged to take part in an anonymous online survey posted on the district’s website at www.luciamarschools.org under “district” then “superintendent search” or at www.surveymonkey.com/s/RT5QRVB. The survey will be active through June 26.
The board of trustees will interview job finalists on July 20. A new superintendent is expected to begin work on August 1.