24 Jan WCCUSD Wants Superintendent ‘Who Chooses Us, Everything We Are’

The West Contra Costa school board held a special meeting Wednesday concerning its search for a new superintendent.(Screenshot captured by Samantha Kennedy / The CC Pulse)

By Samantha Kennedy

The search for a West Contra Costa Unified School District superintendent is on, and board members know what they want — transparency, honesty, budget management, anti-racism, all of it. Now, expected input from dozens of community groups will help guide the board to the candidate best for the district. 

At a special meeting Wednesday at De Anza High School, the board approved a $45,000 contract with Leadership Associates to conduct a superintendent search following the retirement of Kenneth “Chris” Hurst in December. Trustee Demetrio Gonzalez-Hoy was absent from the vote. 

“I believe diversity is not enough when looking for a superintendent. I believe equity is not enough…I believe inclusion is not enough,” Trustee Jamela Smith-Folds said. “I want an anti-racist leader in this district as our superintendent.” 

Smith-Folds, who made anti-racism one of her top priorities during her time as board president last year, said the superintendent also has to understand the district — not just its data points. 

“I want someone who chooses us, everything we are,” she said. “If you’ve never been to a meeting in WCCUSD, don’t apply. If you’ve never attended a board meeting, a (Citizens’ Bond Oversight Committee) meeting, or community meetings, do not apply because you are not ready for who we are. We are unique.”  

Leadership Associates, which conducted the search that ended with Hurst being hired in 2021, plans to meet with various community groups to receive further input. Among those groups are: the Asian Pacific Environmental Network, the Black Parents Resource Center, Reimagine Richmond, the Citizens’ Bond Oversight Committee, All Student Congress, city and county leaders in West Contra Costa and the African American Parent Advisory Council. 

In 2021, Leadership Associates received over 5,000 individual responses on what community members wanted in a superintendent — the largest number of responses they said they’ve seen. 

“Typically, 1,000 responses is really terrific,” Sandy Sanchez Thorstenson with Leadership Associates said. 

That success was largely due to the district’s communications team, said Jim Brown with the firm, but reaching that again will take work. 

“The student group is one of the most difficult to reach in surveys,” Brown said. “We would need the help of your student leaders to do that.”

Student Trustee Jorge Espinoza Jr said collaborating with All Student Congress and School Site Councils could help get the word out about the survey. 

The survey for individual responses will not go out until February, but a draft of the survey can be viewed here. Those surveys are expected to be available in the top five languages spoken in the district, including English and Spanish.

In addition to the 2021 search, Leadership Associates has also been involved in recent superintendent searches for the Berkeley Unified and San Francisco Unified school districts and for several executive position searches for the Pittsburg Unified School District. 

WCCUSD’s search could be complete as soon as May, according to a rough timeline presented at Wednesday’s meeting. The new superintendent would start on July 1 based on that timeline. 

Kim Moses, who previously served as the district’s associate superintendent of business services, is filling in as interim superintendent until then. Moses is a graduate of Kennedy High School and received praise from then-board president Smith-Folds at the time of her appointment for being “committed to the anti-racism vision” of the district.

As part of the agreement with the firm, if the chosen superintendent leaves the district within one year or is selected by the board and does not sign a contract, Leadership Associates will conduct another search at no additional cost, except for advertising the position in the event of the former. 

The next regularly scheduled West Contra Costa school board meeting is Jan. 29.