SMMUSD Superintendent Moving On
• School Board Scurries to Fill
Surprise Job Vacancy
The Santa Monica Malibu Unified School
District, which has been rocked by two major controversies
recently, may be facing a new round of upheaval, as
Superintendent Dianne Talarico, who has served for just
two years, may soon be leaving to take a position in Northern
Calfornia.
SMMUSD board member Kathy Wisnicki, the
lone Malibuite on the board, confirmed the report widely
circulating in Santa Monica that Talarico has received an
offer from a small K-8 school system in the Bay Area with about
2500 students.
Wisnicki indicated that the deal is not yet
signed, and that official confirmation would not come until
sometime next week.
Talarico had held a position in the San
Francisco school district for nearly two decades. The move
would allow Talarico to join her husband, also an educator, who
has been located in Northern California during the time that
Talarico has been with the SMMUSD.
Talarico replaced John Deasy as
superintendent in 2006. She had previously served as
superintendent in her home town of Canton, Ohio, where she was
credited with decreasing high school dropout rates, and helping
to secure grant and tax monies.
Talarico, however, was an unknown when
she arrived in this district. The teachers union complained
that they had not been included in the selection process. State
Assemblymember Julia Brownley, who was
then a school board member, stated at the time that “this
was our first ever departure from having a hiring process that
was open and collaborative.”
According to the board, no good
candidates would consent to being interviewed by the
SMMUSD consultants if their names were made public.
A number of Malibu activists lobbied
at the time for the selection of former Malibu High School
principal Mike Matthews, who is now Assistant Supervisor.
Wisnicki assured the Malibu Surfside News
that the board is already “determining how to move
forward” with the process of choosing a new
superintendent. “Last time we started late,” she
said, indicating that this time there would be more opportunity
to examine the options and involve the community.
Wisnicki said that education consultant Jim
Brown of Leadership Associates, an executive search firm,
is scheduled to meet with the board to help develop a timeline.
Wisnicki said she thinks the board will act
swiftly to appoint an interim superintendent, but that a
permanent appointment will not be made until after the
November school board elections. A special board meeting
will be held when Talarico’s Northern California
appointment is confirmed, possibly as early as Wednesday.
The interim superintendent will have to
deal with the continuing fallout of the special education
controversy and the Lincoln Middle School sexual
harassment allegations, as well as the apparent divide
that continues to widen between the Malibu and Santa
Monica halves of the district.
