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A Message from Superintendent Israel Vela
With the academic year ending and the start of a new school year just around the corner, I remain fully committed to successfully preparing all students for their futures. Students are at the center of our work as we continue our efforts towards closing access, opportunity, and achievement gaps, especially for students furthest away from educational and social justice.
During the last few months, our executive cabinet has come together to reimagine a realignment of our communities and teams to strengthen collaboration, communication, and coordination throughout the district so together we become more efficient and effective to support all our stakeholders – including staff and community.
As we move forward in our journey to best support students and our talented educators and staff, I am pleased to announce a realignment of our administration center communities and teams to support this work. This restructure is primarily a strategic realignment of existing positions and resources, along with title changes for consistent systems alignment of our communities and teams. I believe when this realignment process is complete, we will be a stronger and more equitable school district, designed to better serve all students.
First, as we focus on our priority of teaching and learning, I changed the title of Chief Academic Officer renaming it Associate Superintendent of Teaching and Learning. In addition, I created the positions of Executive Directors of Secondary and Elementary Teaching and Learning. The Teaching and Learning community now includes Assessment, Digital Learning, Curriculum and Instruction, Career and Technical Education, Inclusive Education, Highly Capable, Multilingual Education, and Professional Development.
Second, I created a new position, Associate Superintendent of Strategic Initiatives and Operations, to concentrate on priority initiatives and districtwide operations. This new role will focus on districtwide initiatives such as boundary changes and levy and bond measures, in addition to operations that support our schools. This new community includes Athletics and Activities, Capital Planning, Facilities and Operations, Organizational Effectiveness, Transportation Services, and Warehouse and Distribution Services.
Third, I established the position of Associate Superintendent of Finance. This community includes Accounting, Budget and Finance, and Payroll, along with Risk Management and Nutrition Services to provide a more efficient and effective alignment of these teams to better serve our schools.
Changes to Strategic Initiatives and Operations and the newly created Finance communities are broad and it will take time to coordinate a smooth transition.
Fourth, I renamed the position of Associate Superintendent of Schools and Academic Support which includes Community Schools, Federal Programs, Office of Learning Improvement, Safety Services, and Student and Family Support Services.
Fifth, I again want to welcome our new Associate Superintendent of Human Resources. The HR Community focuses on recruiting, hiring, developing, and retaining a diverse and premier workforce. This community includes Benefits, Employment Support, HR Operations, Labor Relations, Staffing, and Substitute Services.
Lastly, I streamlined the Superintendent’s Community to reflect our core values of equity, excellence, and community. This community includes the Office of Equity and Strategic Engagement, General Counsel, and the Office of Communications and Public Affairs.
While systems change is not always an easy process, I believe this structure will increase our capacity to focus on equity and support our students in their educational goals and dreams. This realignment will become official on July 1, 2022. We are looking forward to starting the new school year strong as we continue our outstanding work together in successfully preparing all students for their futures.
