Los Angeles County Office of Education

10/25/2021 | News release | Distributed by Public on 10/25/2021 17:28

2021 L.A. County Superintendent of the Year and Cabinet Members of the Year Honored at L.A. County Superintendents Collaborative

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Arcadia, Charter Oak, Duarte, Palmdale, and Wiseburn School District Leaders Receive First Annual Los Angeles County Cabinet Members of the Year Awards; Las Virgenes Unified School District Chief Receives the Fifth Annual Superintendent of the Year Prize

LOS ANGELES, Calif. (Oct. 22, 2021) - Today, Los Angeles County Superintendent of Schools, Debra Duardo, MSW, Ed.D., joined U.S. Deputy Secretary of Education, Cynthia Marten, and the members of the Los Angeles County Superintendents Collaborative, at a COVID-19 protocol compliant, luncheon honoring 2021 Superintendent of the Year, Las Virgenes Unified School District Superintendent, Dan Stepenosky, Ed.D., Director of the Los Angeles County Department Of Public Health, Barbara Ferrer PhD, MPH, MEd., and 2021 Cabinet Members of the Year:

  • Arcadia Unified School District Chief Communications Officer, Ryan Foran
  • Charter Oak Unified School District Director of Technology, Eric Martinez
  • Duarte Unified School District Assistant Superintendent of Personnel, Rick Crosby
  • Palmdale Unified School District Chief Business Officer, Frances Ufondu, Ed.D.
  • Wiseburn Unified School District Assistant Superintendent of Educational Services, Aileen Harbeck, Ed.D.

LA County's 80 school districts are entering their third academic year under COVID-19, and are issuing Dr. Ferrer, a special award to express deep appreciation for the team she leads at the LA County Department of Public Health, and in recognition of her leadership, dedication, and service to all students, families, and staff. The Los Angeles County Superintendent of the Year(SOY) award was introduced in 2017 by the Los Angeles County Office of Education (LACOE) in recognition of leadership in learning, excellence in communication, and dedicated community involvement. This is the first annual awarding of the Los Angeles County Cabinet Members of the Year (CMOY) honor. These five CMOYs were honored for their stewardship and for their districtwide leadership in Business/Finance, Communication, Education Services, Human Resources, and Technology.

"COVID-19 closed classroom doors, yet superintendents, cabinet members, teachers and staff in LA County's 80 school districts responded to the pandemic by opening new and innovative pathways toward personalization and engagement for school communities to ensure equitable access to technology and other critical resources," said Los Angeles County Superintendent of Schools Debra Duardo, MSW, Ed.D."Students deserve high-quality instruction and support services to prepare them for college, career, and civic life. Parents and guardians deserve the stability and security that schools provide. Our school and district leaders have gone above and beyond to ensure the safe reopening of our schools with welcoming environments to support the social-emotional wellbeing of all students" she added.

A recent recipient of the Superintendent of the Year distinction issued by the Association of California School Administrators, 2021 Superintendent of the Year, LVUSD Superintendent, Dr. Stepenosky, joined Los Angeles County Superintendent, Dr. Duardo, on stage to deliver remarks to the educators and decision-makers attending the privately-sponsored SoFi Stadium event, alongside keynote speakers, author of Word Crafting: Teaching Spelling, Grades K-6, and U.S. Deputy Secretary of Education, Cynthia Marten, as well as TEDx presenter and founder and CEO of Go Together Global, Shola Richards.

Dr. Stepenoskyis a leader in diversity, equity, and inclusion. His openness and transparency with his school community throughout the multi-year COVID-19 pandemic have provided information, direction, and support so others could do the same. Thanks to his leadership, LVUSD became the first school district in Los Angeles County to safely welcome students with special needs back to campus in October 2020. He began his career in education 26 years ago teaching high school physics and astronomy, and joined the Las Virgenes Unified School District 15 years ago as the Assistant Superintendent of Human Resources, and is entering his tenth year as superintendent.

2021 Communication Cabinet Member of the Year, Arcadia Unified School District Chief Communications Officer, Ryan Foran, met the challenge of the COVID-19 global pandemic by leaning into the crisis, and seizing it as a districtwide opportunity to further build meaningful bridges between Arcadia schools and community members. Concerned with the possible adverse mental impacts of news and social media under stay-at-home orders, he launched the #schoolsclosedheartsopencampaign to reassure students and community members that practicing social distancing does not mean being all alone. This campaign, along with its sibling effort, Nice Notes, boosted morale and shone a spotlight on the herculean tasks of unsung heroes, and won a California School Public Relations Association (CalSPRA) 2021 Award of Excellence.

2021 Technology Cabinet Member of the Year, Charter Oak Unified School District Director of Technology, Eric Martinez, ensured that every student had the hardware and digital literacy training they needed to engage in distance learning, and went above and beyond to institute a fully staffed call-in IT support system for students and their families, so that they could diagnose and troubleshoot technical issues in real time. He facilitated the return of faulty devices with ease - no easy feat during the height of the pandemic - and made it possible for school board meetings to continue to operate with transparency and full staff and stakeholder participation, despite the closure of the district's boardroom. COVID-19 completely changed classroom instruction and how business was done at each school and across the district, yet he exceeded even the wildest expectations of what was possible during a trying and uncertain time.

2021 Human Resources Cabinet Member of the Year, Duarte Unified School District Assistant Superintendent of Personnel, Rick Crosby, was instrumental in the successful vaccination of several thousand San Gabriel Valley community members and education professionals. He spearheaded the DUSD/City of Hope COVID-19 mobile vaccine clinic that supported Duarte and its 9 surrounding school districts and communities beginning in February of this year. His work facilitated the ability of DUSD and other districts to begin their reopening processes in the spring of the 2020-2021 academic year. He brought together world renowned medical experts and educational leaders to combat misinformation and share the science and data behind public health policies, during a time of uncertainty, fear, and mistrust, and devoted countless evening and weekend hours to ensure the health and wellbeing of students, teachers, and families.

2021 Business/Finance Cabinet Member of the Year, Palmdale Unified School District Chief Business Officer, Frances Ufondu, Ed.D., travelled to every school site to assist in the realization of student-centered goals, providing valuable information and guidance regarding the utilization of resources to maximize the attainment of long-term and pandemic-specific goals. A seminal member of the Palmdale PROMISE team - a collaborative group that looks at the strategic plan created for Palmdale as a learning organization to achieve continuous improvement - Dr. Ufondu's focus on safe and inclusive campuses and student voice led to the addition of student board members who sit on the dais with the district's board of trustees. She was recognized as the ACSA State CBO of the Year for 2021, and is a past CAAASA Leader of the Year winner.

2021 Education Services Cabinet Member of the Year, Wiseburn Unified School District Assistant Superintendent of Educational Services, Aileen Harbeck, Ed.D.,reviewed dozens of distance learning resources in collaboration with site administrators and teacher leaders, while concurrently providing opportunities for families to test programs with their students, in order to collect feedback from the user level. Dr. Harbeck's commitment to collaboration transformed the work of teacher leadership teams, Principals Work Group, (PWG) Guiding Coalitions, (GC) and other stakeholders, and put the District in a position to address gaps in learning that were likely driven by the pandemic. Her keen lens on equity for those who struggle to achieve, those who are disenfranchised, and those who have unique needs in accessing the curriculum, created distance learning schedules that supported continuity of learning and ensured that students received quality instruction in all subjects, and were instrumental in the district's return to school.

This special celebration of LA County school leadership was held at SoFi Stadium. The following are some of the organizations who served as the financial sponsors for all of the expenses associated with this event:

  • Cambridge Assessment International Education
  • Grand Canyon University
  • California Credit Union
  • California IT in Education (CITE)
  • California Teachers Association
  • Curriculum Associates
  • Ellevation
  • National Education Equity Lab
  • California State University, Los Angeles (Cal State LA)
  • The Greater LA Education Foundation
  • Charter College of Education
  • Elevo
  • Edbrix
  • Harmony + Inspire
  • K12360
  • Knowledgehook
  • Lakeshore
  • Los Angeles Rams

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