List of superintendent candidates down to 2

DOWNEY - The Downey Patriot learned Wednesday afternoon that one of the three earlier-announced finalists for DUSD Superintendent, Dr. Christopher King, Interim Superintendent of the Anaheim City School District, has withdrawn as a candidate for the position to replace Dr. Wendy Doty. This leaves the other two finalists-John Garcia, Ph. D., Claremont Graduate University, Deputy Superintendent of the Glendale Unified School District, and Julie Mitchell, Ed. D., Pepperdine University, Chief Personnel Officer of the Tustin Unified School District-to vie for the eagerly sought assignment.

The announcement came via e-mail from DUSD board president Donald LaPlante. No reason was given for Dr. King's sudden withdrawal.

The remaining two candidates, Drs.Garcia and Mitchell, will be interviewed next week as scheduled, LaPlante said, and there will be no changes to the rest of the schedule.

The schedule calls for final interviews with the candidates the week of February 4th. LaPlante had earlier indicated that the DUSD board expects to have an announcement of the new Superintendent early in the week of February 11th.

The search process began in earnest in September with the selection of Hazard, Young, Attea & Associates as search consultants to the DUSD board in the selection of the new Superintendent. Towards this end, as LaPlante reviewed the process, the board of education "had the opportunity to interview a number of highly-qualified candidates. These candidates were screened by our search consultants to provide the board with individuals who best matched the qualifications and traits identified in meetings with various groups throughout the school district." LaPlante further said, "After the interviews, the board of education identified [the] three candidates that the board will conduct final interviews with."

The final interviews conducted the week of February 4th will consist of visits to a few selected schools, so the candidates will have a chance to see the kind of schools the district operates, and for the DUSD board to observe the candidates' reaction to the students, and their future jurisdiction.

Then the offer of employment will be made to the chosen candidate.

If everything goes according to plan, Doty departs at the end of March.

********** Published: January 31, 2013 - Volume 11 - Issue 42