SACRAMENTO, CA – Sacramento City Unified School District is concluding tonight a series of seven town halls to seek community input on what qualities the Board of Education should consider in hiring a new superintendent. In addition, the district is using its website to conduct an online survey and is posting comments from the town halls on its website. Community residents have until March 17 to complete the brief survey which is posted on the district website as are comments from previous town halls. The information may be found at http://www.scusd.edu/superintendent-search.

The SCUSD Board of Education began its search after current Superintendent José Banda announced in January that he would not seek renewal of his three-year contract. Banda was hired in July 2014 to lead the district of 43,000 students and 4,200 employees. Sacramento City Unified is one of the oldest public school districts in California and has seventy-seven K-12 and adult education campuses. Banda’s contract ends June 30.

Board members have said their objectives during the search process are to:

• Listen to community members and gather their input on the desirable qualities of a superintendent for SCUSD.

• Be inclusive and ensure that a broad and diverse group of stakeholders is reached out to and asked to participate in the process.
• Explain how community input will be used during the hiring process.
• Educate the community on the important role of the superintendent.
• Share community feedback gathered from the 2014 superintendent search process and determine whether that feedback still applies today.
• Be transparent about the board’s hiring process and timeline.