Dianne Talarico comes from a school district in Canton, Ohio. The Santa Monica Malibu Classroom Teachers Association president says she is “an almost complete unknown to people in this area” and says the teachers’ union was “more or less shut out of the selection process.”
By Melonie Magruder / Special to The Malibu Times
After a lengthy nationwide search, the Santa Monica-Malibu Unified School District has chosen a new superintendent. The district announced this week that Dianne Talarico, superintendent of the school district in Canton, Ohio, has been picked as the permanent successor for John Deasy, who left earlier this year to head a school district in Maryland. Talarico’s contract is still being worked out.
Talarico previously held positions in the San Francisco Unified School District for almost 20 years. She began her career as a special education teacher in Ohio, was a principal and special education teacher in San Francisco and was principal of the American Overseas School in Rome for one year. While in San Francisco, she was also an adjunct professor at San Francisco State University.
Talarico received a bachelor’s degree in elementary and special education from Bowling Green State University and a master’s degree in educational administration from San Francisco State.
According to a press release issued this week by the SMMUSD, “Talarico provided the leadership that resulted in raising academic achievement at every level and the high school graduation rate by 25 percent.” Her administration secured $42 million in competitive grants, oversaw a $178 million reconstruction project and secured voter approval of a $7 million annual tax levy, according to the SMMUSD.
SMMUSD Vice President Kathy Wisnicki, a Malibu resident, said this week, “We were impressed on many levels with Dianne Talarico. In her Canton City Schools tenure, she raised measurable education levels considerably. She implemented programs with local colleges to encourage all high school graduates to continue their higher education. She established important relations with their governor’s office to facilitate funding and she secured private grants from different Foundations to initiate Early College High School programs. We think she will do a lot for us.”
While Wisnicki and other school board members said they were optimistic about Talarico’s hiring, the head of the district’s teachers’ union was less enthusiastic. In a press release, Harry Keiley said the Santa Monica Malibu Classroom Teachers Association was “more or less shut out of the selection process for choosing a new superintendent” and referred to Talarico as being “plucked from Canton, Ohio, and is an almost complete unknown to people in this area.”
“We want to be optimistic about this new person,” Keiley said. “But right now she’s going to need to show us all that she can collaborate with and listen to all of the teachers who have been working here all along. She’s come from a closed selection process and now her new job is going to be all about opening doors.”
Talarico is married to Enrique Navas-Vásquez, who is a specialist in school business services. She is expected to begin her job with the district in mid-August.