A speech language pathologist who is a member of United Teachers of Richmond addresses the West Contra Costa school board during the Feb. 12, 2025, meeting to protest the staffing cuts the board approved one week prior, which includes speech specialists.
Credit: Monica Velez / EdSource
Many in the West Contra Costa Unified School District community say they want their next superintendent to be a leader who is accountable, transparent, accessible, innovative, and understands diverse communities.
“The No. 1 priority we should be looking for in the next superintendent should be someone rooted in the community … and (who) can take our weaknesses and turn them into strengths,” said West Contra Costa parent Nivette Moore. “Someone who can melt into all these cultures and understand how to maneuver in our community.”
Moore had attended one of the various town halls hosted by Leadership Associates, the search firm conducting the superintendent search. Sandy Sanchez Thorstenson, an associate at Leadership Associates, said the firm is listening to the district’s various communities for the qualities they want in their next leader, and meeting dozens of other groups and committees the district works with. Typically the outreach period lasts two weeks, but the firm is spending double the time listening to the West Contra Costa community.
“This is the most level of engagement I have experienced,” said Sanchez Thorstenson, who has been a recruiter for nine years.
Although participation in the town halls has ranged from a handful to about 20 people, the small group conversations are valuable and give the firm a deeper understanding of what the community needs and wants, said Jim Brown, senior adviser at Leadership Associates.
However, multiple town hall goers on Tuesday night said the small turnout is another example of how the district’s communication team often doesn’t reach the entire community. Just in the past five months, dozens of community members have complained about a lack of transparency and communication during board meetings.
Moore has two children who graduated from the district and a 10-year-old daughter who currently attends Nystrom Elementary School, said the disconnect and lack of consistent communication between parents, teachers, administrators and board members is an issue that persists.
“If we have that, we are never going to be able to have a functioning district and get out of the deficit we are in,” Moore said. “The superintendent should be able to figure out the issue and fix it. We want somebody to come in and who’s not going to be afraid to push the envelope.”
West Contra Costa’s next superintendent will also inherit the district’s struggles of the last five years, including low test scores, declining enrollment, teacher vacancies, chronic absenteeism and financial instability.
West Contra Costa has 54 schools in the Richmond, San Pablo and Pinole areas, with just under 30,000 students. The student population is majority students of color, and more than half of the students are low-income.
The district deserves a leader who will end the cycles of instability, said Francisco Ortiz, president of United Teachers of Richmond. The union is ready to partner with a leader who wants to collaborate, he said.
“Students can’t wait for fully staffed schools,” Ortiz said in an emailed statement to EdSource. “They can’t wait for a district that prioritizes retaining and attracting high-quality educators. And they can’t wait for a superintendent who will invest in the workforce that shapes their future.”
Sheryl Lane, a parent and executive director of Fierce Advocates, a Richmond organization focused on working with parents of color, said the district needs someone who has experience recruiting teachers, someone who wants to invest and stay in the district, and someone who is a strong advocate and eager to work with community partners.
Lane’s son, Ashton Desmangles, said the next superintendent should be invested in being accessible and in creating relationships with students. He’s an eighth-grade student at Korematsu Middle School and the only student on the district’s anti-racism team, an opportunity provided by Chris Hurst, the former superintendent, who retired in December after being on the job for three years. He was replaced by interim Superintendent Kim Moses.
Why it’s harder to recruit superintendents now
West Contra Costa is one of at least half a dozen districts in California trying to find a new superintendent during a time when many superintendents have retired or left because of heightened political climates at board meetings, stress and threats.
Finding superintendent candidates who meet the unique needs of school districts and their populations is always difficult, Brown said. Recently, politics surrounding education have been making it harder to recruit, the most intense he’s seen in his 20 years at Leadership Associates and 37 years as a superintendent, he said.
“Just the whole scene right now — there’s a note of uncertainty to it,” Brown said. “I’m referring to changes in school board around political issues, changes nationally now with the Department of Education under fire.”
Dwindling enrollment, school closures, budget cuts and the lingering effects of the pandemic have caused veteran superintendents to retire early and be replaced with less experienced educators. Newly elected board members have also pushed out superintendents. And districts are willing to pay top dollar to find a fit for the high-stress job.
West Contra Costa superintendents have also had to deal with staying fiscally solvent and avoiding a state takeover. The district slashed $32.7 million from its budget between 2024 and 2027, impacting programs and staffing. In 1991, the district became the first in the state to go insolvent and received a $29 million bailout loan, which took 21 years to pay off.
“Sometimes there are funding crises going on that make it more difficult for people to move (for the job),” Brown said. “But people who want a challenge in education, this is the kind of district you want to work in, because you can make a difference.”
The recent budget cuts have also put the district at odds with the United Teachers of Richmond. In the next two school years, $13 million in cuts will be made, which will deplete 1.6% of staff in the teachers’ union, including teachers, social workers, and speech therapists.
Union leadership has called the staffing cuts unnecessary because West Contra Costa’s fiscal solvency plan uses multiyear projections based on fully-staffed schools, which is about 1,600 educators. Currently, there are about 130 vacant positions, which is equivalent to nearly $19 million.
“The educators of United Teachers of Richmond are calling for a superintendent who brings proven leadership experience in urban districts and a commitment to collaboration, not exclusion,” Ortiz said. “We need a leader who partners with labor, values educators, and prioritizes stability — not one who deepens the vacancy crisis.”
Leadership Associates will identify potential candidates in February and March. The deadline for applications is March 24. Applications will be reviewed in April, and interviews will be conducted in May.
The district’s next superintendent is slated to be hired at the end of May or the beginning of June with a start date of July 1.
The next two meetings are Feb. 26 at Richmond High School from 6 p.m. to 7 p.m. and 7:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. People can also join through Zoom; there’s also an online survey open until March 3.
