Sam Reamer
Staff WriterNext year, Santa Monica-Malibu Unified School District (SMMUSD) faculty and staff will be under the direction of a new superintendent, Sandra Lyon. Lyon currently works for the Palmdale School District (PSD) of 21,000 students as Districts Chief leadership officer.Lyon described herself as a collaborative leader and a strong believer in group cooperation.“It serves me well to believe that two heads are better then one,” Lyon said. “What I’m going to do in SMMUSD is really consult people and work with people because I think when we’re all working together we have a better result.”Samo teacher Nathan Fulcher is optimistic about having a new superintendent.“I think it could be good for us to have some new leadership and maybe some new visions for the school district,” Fulcher said. “[A superintendent is] a leader who’s seen on all campuses, who teachers feel comfortable with, who administrators feel comfortable with, but also [someone] who has a vision of where we need to get our students.”Lyon expressed both personal and professional reasons for leaving her district.“My husband and I lived in an urban area when we first got married, and we have wanted to get back to that. So the idea of being in a more urban area again and having that experience was really appealing, and I know SMMUSD is a great district and is doing a lot of great things,” Lyon said.According to SMMUSD Board member Laurie Lieberman, Lyon stood out in her interview for the superintendent position.“When we interviewed her, she described the way she felt about what she does in education as an occu-passion. It really moved us all. She’s very passionate about what she does and she’s very skilled and dedicated,” Lieberman said.Tanya Choo, former Samo Student Member of the Board thought Lyon stood out when she was presented as the new superintendent by the Board of Education in the May 9 meeting.“She seems like a very hard-working person. The entire board recommended her. She seems very serious about her business which is kind of what we were looking for,” Choo said.According to Lyon, although PSD is quite different from SMMUSD, she will have no trouble adjusting to the new setting.“Palmdale is a district that has a lot of students in poverty and has a much larger English language learner population and a larger Hispanic population,” Lyon said, “I’ve had the opportunity of working with districts up and down the state when I was a consultant. I’ve worked in several districts as an employee and a lot of the issues are the same. It’s just that you’re transferring it to a different setting. So while we are very different demographically, in terms of instruction and our goals for students there is a cross over,” Lyon said.Lieberman believes that Lyon’s previous experience makes her a great fit for SMMUSD.“I think she’s seen both sides and I think our district has both sides and the middle. She understands equity issues which are a big issue for us in our district,” Lieberman said.Lyon agrees with Lieberman and, as superintendent, believes that she will be able to easily adapt to SMMUSD’s financial situation.“SMMUSD is in good financial shape compared to the rest of us , but we still have to make some tough decisions. It’s really going to be a learning process for me to get a handle on where we are and working with the community to see what we need to do to get through the next couple of years, ” Lyon said.According to Lieberman, Lyon will also need to adapt quickly to SMMUSD’s politics.“The biggest obstacle that she has to meet is coming up to speed on the politics of our community and our school district. We have a very active community with people that have very strong opinions… She will have to get to know a lot of the players and take her time really grasping the community, but I’m confident she will be able to do it,” said Lieberman.Lyon believes that this acclimation process will be her biggest professional trial thus far.“The challenge is really just getting in there and getting the lay of the land; learning who’s who and what’s important to the people,” Lyon said.
sreamer@thesamohi.com