Tacoma needs full search for new school chief. Don’t rush to anoint heir apparent
Carla Santorno, who’s led Tacoma Public Schools for nine years, gave the gift of time to the community this week when she announced she’s retiring in June 2022.
Waiting 15 months to step down isn’t about an extended farewell tour. Rather, it gives Washington’s third-largest public school district plenty of runway to land a first-class new superintendent, someone who will help give Tacoma and its nearly 29,000 students their best shot at success.
Tacoma should take advantage of that gift by conducting a full-fledged superintendent search. It would be a mistake to hurriedly move Santorno’s heir apparent into the job now, regardless of his fine record of achievement.
Thursday evening, the School Board met behind closed doors to discuss the qualifications of Deputy Superintendent Josh Garcia, Santorno’s No. 1 lieutenant for most of her tenure. Depending on the outcome and a vote by the board as soon as next week, they could appoint Garcia to the top job, move Santorno into a supporting role and forgo a national search.
If this sounds like deja vu, it’s because Santorno enjoyed a similar progression as a handpicked successor in 2012. Under a carefully orchestrated plan, she went from deputy superintendent to interim superintendent-elect to interim superintendent and finally to superintendent while her predecessor, Art Jarvis, downshifted into retirement.
Things worked out well for Tacoma that time. Santorno has raised the school district’s reputation (and graduation rate) through diligent, award-winning leadership.
But now’s not the time to cut corners. It’s been 13 years since Tacoma last went through the deep introspection and self-assessment of a superintendent search. Much has happened in that span, including a pair of teachers’ strikes and a year of disjointed education during a pandemic that’s held our children captive.
A search is a great way to engage the community about the district’s performance generally and about one of Pierce County’s highest-paid public jobs specifically. (Santorno commanded a $307,862 salary in 2020-21.)
It’s also a chance for Tacoma’s unusually inexperienced school board — a total of 10 years elected or appointed service between the five of them — to avoid tunnel vision and see what ideas and talent can be found outside Tacoma.
Board President Andrea Cobb is a big fan of Garcia and proposed the board discuss his qualifications Thursday. She told us earlier in the day that there are “pros and cons” to a search and that sometimes there’s a “clear pathway” to promote from within.
“I’ve worked with Josh for six years,” Cobb said. “I know enough about district structures and leadership teams to know that it’s not always a given that we have a partnership like what we have in the district.”
Certainly no promotion of Garcia should go forward unless the Sumner resident agrees to move to Tacoma, a sign of full investment in the community.
There’s no doubt the 46-year-old has strong credentials, which he burnished in Federal Way Schools before Santorno hired him in 2012. The former high school math teacher and principal pioneered the practice of academic acceleration, steering more students of color and low-income learners into advanced classes. In Tacoma, he’s been a key leader in the Whole Child Initiative, a nationally respected collaboration with University of Washington Tacoma that goes beyond test scores and graduation rates to focus on social and emotional learning.
Garcia also would be Tacoma’s first Latino school superintendent since Lillian Barna 30 years ago — no small factor to consider during this time of national racial reckoning.
But the cream typically rises to the top, and a superintendent search may very well clinch that Garcia is the best choice for the job.
Think of it like a sports team looking for a new coach: Interviewing a slew of outside candidates allows you to gain insight on how other organizations operate.
A public process also has the benefit of letting community members see how and why decisions are made.
“It’s a good way to get the pulse of the citizens of Tacoma and see if people are happy about (how the district is being run),” Debbie Winskill, a former 30-year board member, told us.
A key is to retain a good search firm, she said, and to conduct a legitimate process, not a charade with a predetermined result.
Winskill had a hand in hiring six superintendents; all but one (Santorno) involved a search, and admittedly not all worked out well. (See: the Charlie Milligan disaster, 2007-08.)
While success is never guaranteed, Tacoma Schools would do well to take a page from Tacoma City Hall. After hearing from the public, city officials slowed down their original transition plan to replace 18-year Police Chief Don Ramsdell. In December they promoted assistant chief Michael Ake to interim chief but continue to evaluate whether an inside candidate is best suited to lead transformational change.
It’s hard to fault a patient approach like that.
One thing’s for sure: Thanks to Superintendent Carla Santorno’s gift of time, the Tacoma School Board has no reason to rush.
This story was originally published March 19, 2021 at 6:00 AM.