A message from the Superintendent
Dec. 7, 2012
Good morning:
After six months as your Superintendent, it has been a pleasure to get to know our schools, staff, students and families. I know this has been a time of change, and I am looking forward to solidifying our team to ensure we are all working together in the best interest of our students.
Today I am pleased to announce several appointments in our District. I will also be providing you with some additional information regarding specifically the Teaching & Learning Department, just prior to the holiday break.
The following are announcements regarding staff new to the central office and/or in new positions:
• Special Education: I am appointing Stacey McCrath-Smith to the permanent position of Director of Special Education. Stacey has served as the interim director and has done a great job stepping into the role and helping to bring stability to the department. I want to thank Phil Brockman, BiHoa Caldwell, John Thorp and key staff for their continued help and assistance to the department and Stacey while we complete over the next several months our national search for an Executive Director of Special Education.
• School/Family Partnerships and Equity/Race relations: I am appointing Bernardo Ruiz to the position of Director of School Family Partnerships and Equity & Race Relations. In this expansion of his prior role, he will oversee School Family Partnerships and will lead, direct, and act as the district leader in all areas related to increasing district effectiveness in building a culture of educational equity and inclusion for all Seattle Public School students, families and employees.
• Career and Technical Education: Mary Davison has accepted the Interim Manager of Career and Technical Education position for the remainder of the 2012-2013 school year. Mary has been with Seattle Public Schools for 15 years and recently served as the Career and Technical Education Specialist for Business/Marketing/Information Technology.
• School Board office: I want to welcome Anita DeMahy who has accepted the position of Board Office Administrator. Anita is filling the vacancy created when Theresa Hale became the Board Office Manager.
We are currently working on filling several positions within our Teaching and Learning Department. With the significant work ahead regarding common core standards, alignment of curriculum, completion of a program framework and implementation of multi-tiered systems of support (MTSS), we have placed a major emphasis on getting a solid team in place. We have a search firm in place to recruit for the Assistant Superintendent of Teaching & Learning position and hope to have it filled permanently by the end of the school year. The search firm is also recruiting for the Executive Director of Special Education position.
We are in the final stages of interviewing finalists for the position of Executive Director of Curriculum & Instruction and will be making an announcement by the holiday break. We are also looking at some minor reorganization of the Curriculum & Instruction department so we can hit the ground running in the New Year.
I appreciate your hard work and dedication to our students and families. My goal with these announcements is to let you know how we are working to strengthen our support of our wonderful staff in the buildings and classrooms where the delivery of education is at the forefront. As always, please feel free to contact me with questions or ideas.
Sincerely,
José Banda
Superintendent
Seattle Public Schools
