Editor,
When she left Laguna in 2014 to become the assistant superintendent of educational services in Palos Verdes, I said Joanne Culverhouse would return someday. Now that Sherine Smith, the Laguna Beach Unified School District superintendent of schools, has announced she plans to retire next year, I predict Dr. C. will be “home” sooner than expected.
Denny Freidenrich, Laguna Beach
Why would an administrator leave a position for another with less pay? There is no love lost between these two administrators. Dr. C knew that experience at the top levels would be absolutely necessary for a chance at the very top position in any given district. Do you really believe that the superintendent would even consider hiring someone that is going to outshine her? Dr. C is an administrator who will take orders whether she likes it or not. The new board may consider her this time around, the old one would never have and did not want her to outshine them either.
The one problem I see with this possible chance would be that the superintendent has said she would put out a survey as to current teacher morale. If that same survey were handed to high school faculty as to Dr. C’s performance and teacher morale it would come back rather low. She did not have the wide support of her teachers and many felt that teachers were her last priority and was truly an elementary or junior high school principal not a high school principal. I would have reservations as to her ability to run an entire school district.