School board appoints David Haglund as next PUSD superintendent

The Pleasanton school board Tuesday night unanimously approved a three-year employment contract between PUSD and Santa Ana schools administrator David Haglund as the district’s next superintendent.

Haglund, a 29-year educator who most recently worked as deputy superintendent of educational services and chief academic officer for Santa Ana Unified School District, was appointed to the position by a unanimous board vote in closed session Tuesday. He will start July 1.

“Dr. Haglund has been involved for years, both in Santa Ana and in Riverside, in working to break barriers for all students and to help create innovative programs to serve them, whether for typically underserved or typically high-achieving ones,” school board president Joan Laursen said. “Dr. Haglund may not learn the names of all 15,000 of our students in his first year, but I guarantee that our students will get to know him and he will be personally involved in their success.”

Added trustee Valerie Arkin, “We did a very exhaustive process and we really reached out to many many people, as well as looking at Santa Ana Unified and what kind of district that is and what great things they’ve done for kids…I am very confident we have a great individual, a very qualified individual, that will lead us.”

In comments to the board, PUSD administrators and community members at Tuesday’s meeting, Haglund said he was “thrilled” about becoming superintendent.

“Thank you so much for your confidence and your support,” he said. “Most importantly, I want to thank you for the opportunity to serve this community, and that’s the way I see the role of the superintendent.

“I’m the chief servant of the district,” he continued. “I’m not the guy that tells everybody what to do — that’s really not where my heart’s at…What I can do best is to be a guy that can come in and figure out how to remove obstacles from the path. It’s not about giving direction, it’s about facilitating motion, so I look forward to that opportunity.”

In a brief interview Tuesday evening, Haglund said he is “very impressed” with the Pleasanton community.

“In the process that superintendents go through, search firms typically interview lots of folks and they identify the priorities of the community,” he said. “When I read the findings from the Pleasanton report, there was a whole lot of it that really resonated with me in terms of the things I’m passionate about — 21st century learning, as an example, creating new opportunities for more innovative educational programs — those are things I’ve done for a long time in other districts. To see a community that’s really ready to take a step in that direction was very attractive to me.”

He added his initial plans are “to listen and to learn about the community.”

Haglund will earn an annual base salary of $265,000 and health benefits over 220 workdays. He will get 18 days of sick leave annually and 27 vacation days plus holidays.

Haglund will also receive $10,000 for one-time moving expenses, a nearly $3,000 stipend for possession of master’s and doctoral degrees, and a coach for professional support for one year.

By comparison, Rick Rubino — who was fired as superintendent by the board without cause in January — received an annual base salary of $256,000.

The contract states that the board can terminate the superintendent’s contract for cause or without. If the board were to find cause to nullify the agreement, they would have to notify the superintendent in writing within five days of the decision.

If the board didn’t have cause, they would need to notify him in writing two months before terminating the contract and pay up to nine months’ salary. That nine-month maximum would increase to a year should he receive a satisfactory evaluation after the first year of service.

In the event of termination without cause, the superintendent would have also access to a maximum of six months of medical benefits and could request to purchase coverage beyond that period.

Starting with the evaluation for the first complete school year, if the board finds Haglund’s performance satisfactory they will consider extending his contract by an additional year. They will also consider a salary adjustment when he is evaluated and could increase his pay “at any time during any school year,” according to the agreement.

There were no public comments on Haglund’s contract.

Haglund has held positions as a principal, district administrator and classroom teacher over his career. He has a doctorate of education from University of Southern California.

Haglund will be PUSD’s fifth leader since spring 2015. Deputy superintendent of business services Micaela Ochoa has been serving as interim superintendent since January, when the board fired Rubino after six months in the position.

The search for a new superintendent began soon thereafter with the selection of Hazard, Young, Attea & Associates as the consulting firm tasked with leading the process.

The firm received over 50 applications and interviewed around 20 candidates. Consultants brought seven to the board for their consideration, and six of them were part of the board’s initial interviews in early May.

Trustees then selected three finalists who were interviewed by a panel of community members, then again individually by the board.

The board announced their selection of Haglund as the superintendent finalist late last month. On June 2 and 5, trustees, district administrators and union representatives interviewed residents and colleagues about Haglund in private meetings in Santa Ana.

Haglund said he was “incredibly grateful” to the school board for choosing him and for having a thorough search process.

“They spent a lot of time and talked to a lot of folks that I’ve worked with for years before they made their decision, and I have a great deal of respect for them taking that time to do that work — I know this is an important decision for them,” he said.

The board Tuesday also selected a new principal for Donlon Elementary School — Janet Gates, the current vice principal of Lydiksen Elementary.

Gates will start her new job July 1 after three years as vice principal of Lydiksen. She has 16 years of classroom experience, including 11 in Pleasanton teaching AVID, health and life and earth science at Harvest Park Middle School.

Gates replaces Sebastian Bull, who last month was appointed the next principal of Foothill High.

“She has been a wonderful administrator in our district,” Laursen said.

Said Gates, “I am so excited to serve the members of my own Pleasanton neighborhood. Thank you to the Donlon community for being willing to walk with me this year as we get to know each other.”

Gates lives in Pleasanton with her husband and their dog Snickers. They have three grown daughters.

She earned a B.A. in biological sciences and teaching credential from UC Davis and a master’s in teaching leadership from St. Mary’s College.

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