Sylvie Belmond/Staff Writer
The search is in full swing for a new superintendent for the Santa Monica-Malibu Unified School District (SMMUSD), and applicants are going to have big shoes to fill.
The toughest thing the new superintendent will face is the financial straights the district is in.
“We’re just perennially and perpetually under-funded,” said Cynthia Gray, principal at Point Dume Marine Science Elementary School. “Education is a tough area to be in anymore and the superintendent takes a lot of the blame.”
Because estimates for enrollment were substantially off for the school year, among other problems, the district was in a financial crisis last year.
“It is a complex issue that goes all the way back to Prop 13,” said Mike Jordan, newly-elected district board member representing Malibu. “This district always tries to do a lot of things, multi-faceted, and we stretch ourselves thin.”
The district is also short $2 million for next year’s budget, said Jordan. However, he did say he believes the district is no longer in a crisis.
“Of course, a lot of this depends on the governor’s budget, which comes down this week,” he said.
Jordan said the new superintendent will need the ability to develop new partnerships within the community.
“We need to look under every rock in Santa Monica and Malibu to find if there is money under there that can be spent on our kids,” he said.
The new superintendent should also have an interest to improve academic achievement and be sensible to the needs of special education students, say community leaders.
Gray hopes the new superintendent will have the same qualities as Schmidt.
“I never had a superintendent who was so hands on,” explained Gray. “He is here a lot, so much so that, in my 22 years of education, I never had a superintendent like that.
“We’re going to miss him.”
The SMMUSD serves approximately 12,500 students of which 20 percent are from Malibu. It is a diversified district where each school has individual needs. A factor to be considered is the distance between Malibu Schools and the offices of the district.
“I’m worried that we will never see the new superintendent,” said Gray, “because we are 27 miles up the road.”
Another challenge for the incoming superintendent will be that he is coming into a district that has subscribed to sight-based management, said Gray.
“Every one of us operates differently, allowing each principal and faculty member to set his or her own priorities to meet the needs of the school and the student population they serve,” she explained.
But for a superintendent, a one-size fits all management would be a lot easier, she said.
Jordan said, “We’re looking for a good administrator and a scholar, who appreciates and loves kids.”
While the next superintendent will need those qualities, which are basic, he will also need to go beyond that, continued Jordan. The board is looking for a motivator who has good people skills. The school district always tries to include a multi-faceted curriculum for the students, explained Jordan. However, “in trying to maintain these good programs we’re constantly scraping to get the money to get the job done.”
Jordan, too, enjoyed Schmidt’s presence in the community.
“The thing I really appreciate about him is that he has been accessible,” he said.
“He is everywhere. Every single PTA meeting or school function in all 14 schools, he is there,” said Jordan. “He has been supportive at the grass-roots level.”
Another necessary skill for the incoming superintendent will be the ability to improve communication within the district.
“Improve the way the district communicates with its own employees, teachers and staff and the way it communicates with the community, parents and students,” said Jordan.
The hardest part of the job, said Schmidt, was trying to complete construction projects on time and trying to respond in an appropriate manner to all the different problematic needs facing the district.
As for special needs, it is an area where the school district hasn’t done as well as they would like to do, explained Schmidt.
“Many parents feel that we have not been as supportive and responsive as they would like us to be, but we’re working on it,” he said.
In Schmidt’s view, the new superintendent will need to value differences and diversity and look at it as a richness, not something to overcome.
“You can’t do that in an office.”
Cascade Consulting Group from Bellevue, Wash. is conducting the search for the new superintendent and a national advertising campaign has begun with notices posted in publications, online and in university placement offices. The applicants must have a master’s degree, preferably a doctorate.