DISTRICT TO BEGIN SEARCH FOR NEXT SUPERINTENDENT

The San Dieguito Union High School District board ratified the contract for Interim Superintendent Lucile Lynch and has began the process of looking for its next leader. At the May 20 board meeting, the board approved a request for proposals for a superintendent search firm, due back by June 7.

“I want our parents to know this district is going forward,” school board President Mo Muir said. “We’ve had a bad year but we are definitely coming out of it and we’ve chosen someone who’s going to take us there.”

Lynch is a former SDUHSD parent, a former assistant district attorney and businesswoman who created an educational products corporation and founded Beacons Inc., a nonprofit that provides vocational training to bridge gaps to employment for adults with developmental disabilities. Lynch has been an education advocate throughout her children’s education and, in the San Dieguito district, advocated for special education reform and for a district aquatics facility as part of the pool committee.

Per the contract, Lynch will receive a daily rate of $1,100 and is expected to work a minimum of three to five days per week. The district will also continue to pay 12 months’ salary ($270,746) for former superintendent Robert Haley per the terms of his voluntary resignation.

“It’s been kind of an emotionally reactive year, my goal is to turn that temperature down as best I can,” Lynch said.

At the meeting, the board voted 4-1 vote in favor of Lynch’s contract with trustee Katrina Young opposed. Young said her vote was not personal as she has known Lynch for a long time and admires all the work she has done — Young wanted to stay true to her original intent of what she wanted in a superintendent and the intent of California Education Code.

Per Ed Code, a superintendent must hold a valid school administration certificate and a valid teacher’s certificate. A governing board does have the option to waive any credential requirement, as the board did with past Superintendent Eric Dill.

The board was complimentary of Lynch’s first weeks on the job — Muir said her presence has been a positive culture shift, one that demonstrated respect and accountability. She also helped organize a board budget workshop for the first time in four years.

U-T Community Press