School & District Management

Ahead of Board Turnover, Los Angeles Superintendent Gets a Contract Extension

By Denisa R. Superville — June 14, 2017 1 min read
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Los Angeles Superintendent Michelle King may stick around until 2020 after getting a two-year contract extension from the school board on Tuesday.

With the 6-1 vote, King is expected to stay on the job through June 2020, the paper reported.

There was speculation about King’s future after two new board members were elected last month, with one of them defeating school board president Steve Zimmer.

According to the Los Angeles Times, the new board members have not said whether they were likely to keep or replace King. However, we’ve seen a number of school boards oust sitting superintendents after new members are elected.

King, a longtime LAUSD administrator, became superintendent last year when she replaced Ramon Cortines. Cortines had come out of retirement in 2014 to run the district after the board forced out John Deasy.

Monica Garcia, who voted against the extension, said the new school board should be able to make that decision.

“We will have new board members in three weeks, and it is my view that she is best affirmed by that new board,” she said, according to the Los Angeles Times.

At the same meeting, the board also approved a plan for a unified-enrollment system for the country’s second-largest school district. The system is expected to be up and running by October, and parents will be able to use a single online application to apply to district schools. Independent charter schools will not be part of the system, according to the Los Angeles Times.

Los Angeles Unified School District Superintendent Michelle King. --Brinson+Banks for Education Week-File

A version of this news article first appeared in the District Dossier blog.