NORWALK – Retired Norwalk-La Mirada Unified School District Superintendent Ginger Shattuck began her post as interim superintendent last week until a permanent replacement can be found for Dr. Ruth Pérez, who left the District Thursday, Sept. 11 to pursue a position at Los Angeles Unified. Shattuck started working with the District as a teacher and reading specialist at D.D. Johnston Elementary School in 1962 and started her career as an administrator in 1974. She served as principal at Dolland and Glazier elementary schools, and in 1986 became director of elementary education.

In 1993, Shattuck began her tenure as deputy superintendent and became superintendent in 1994, where she served until her retirement in 2009.

Shattuck was awarded the Association of California School Administrators’ (ACSA) Superintendent of the Year; District Administrator of the Year in 1991-92 and 2002-03; Region XIV Marcus Foster Memorial Award in 2004; and the California Music Education Music Educator of the Year Award in 2007.

Due to her efforts, the District was one of five original Vanguard Districts selected to work with the California Arts Alliance and Arts for All. She developed partnerships with the Panasonic Foundation, UCLA and the Center for Leadership in School Reform.

“If there is anybody who knows this District inside and out, it’s Ginger Shattuck,” Pérez said. “I’m confident that she will do a superb job while the Board of Education seeks a permanent replacement.”

At the regular meeting on Monday, the Board of Education also honored Pérez, who will serve as deputy superintendent of instruction at LAUSD, overseeing the education of more than 650,000 students in the second-largest district in the nation.

The Board of Education will soon launch a search for a permanent replacement.

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Published: Sept. 18, 2014 - Volume 13 - Issue 23