The Paso Robles School District is looking for a new superintendent.
The school board and community members shared their thoughts Thursday evening about the kind of person they are looking for in the next Paso Robles Joint Unified School District superintendent.
Tonight was a special meeting for an introduction with the leadership associates who will be helping with the superintendent search.
“To replace Dr. Dubost whose contract will be up in June of next year and he will be retiring and leaving us,” Williams said.
Nathan Williams, President of the Paso Robles Joint Unified School District, says they will proceed cautiously with the search.
“Paso Robles School District has strived to recover from some missteps; whether it be financial or academically,” Williams said.
Tracy Daughterman has two kids in the district. She says communication is something that the district could improve on.
“We have a lot of families who speak Spanish as their first language and someone who is bilingual would be amazing,” Daughterman said.
She says it is also about finding someone who will stand up for every student.
“Someone who cares about serving underprivileged kids,” Daughterman said.
“I would love a superintendent who really cared about and prioritized neighborhood schools. I think it's really important that kids go to the school that they are zoned for because it makes neighborhood connections with the kids that live nearby and makes it easier for parents to get their kids to school. Transportation is a huge issue in our school district,” Daughterman said.
The current superintendent, Dr. Curt Dubost, has been in the position for almost five years, stepping up to take over after the previous superintendent suddenly resigned.
“A strong leader, someone who has previous experience, someone who can take charge and lead us and our district in a way that is going to continue the progress we’ve made and elevate that even more,” Williams said.
Sara Tilem lives in Paso Robles and has a first- and third-grader in the school district and shares her hopes.
“The infrastructure of schools, I'm hoping they can be fiscally responsible and be able to balance that budget as necessary,” Tilem said.
Tilem says she is looking for someone hands-on.
“Not afraid to come to the campuses, talk to parents, talk to students, someone who can be involved in the community,” Tilem said.
Williams says as a school district there are still many things they want to accomplish; including getting reading and math levels up and academics overall stronger.
