What happened to CVUSD's superintendent, and who's in charge now? Here's what to know

Coachella Valley Unified School District will first consider internal candidates for its next superintendent before deciding on a broader search, the school board announced at its Thursday meeting.

The district will hold a special board meeting at 5:30 p.m. on Tuesday to discuss the decision and consult with attorneys about the process.

Here's the latest on why the last superintendent left, and what you should know about the current "administrator in charge."

What communities does CVUSD serve?

CVUSD is comprised of 14 elementary schools, three middle schools, four high schools and one adult school. The school district serves roughly 16,455 students , 98% of whom are Hispanic, 42.5% who are chronically absent (down 3.5% from last year). Geographically, the district covers Coachella, Thermal, Mecca, and the Salton Sea and Oasis areas.

When did CVUSD's superintendent resign?

Superintendent Luis Valentino's resignation was announced at a special board meeting held during spring break in April, which he did not attend. He began his tenure as CVUSD's superintendent on July 1, 2021, after the abrupt resignation of Maria Gandera. Valentino officially retired on June 30, concluding his 35-year career in public education — a year ahead of his original four-year contract.

More: Luis Valentino resigns as Coachella Valley Unified School District superintendent

At last Thursday's board meeting, Valerie Garcia was the first of two board members to thank Valentino for his work at CVUSD. She highlighted the district's Golden Bell awards , the unprecedented events they navigated — Hurricane Hilary, power outages, flooding — and for providing opportunities in which students excelled.

"Moving forward, my hope is that we don't rush our process. Every meeting we have, parents come and ask us about transparency," she said. "Our students and community deserve a full process, an unbiased third party going through candidates and making sure that things aren't rushed."

Garcia noted that before her election to the board , CVUSD experienced frequent turnover in this crucial position.

"Our superintendent is the person who sets the tone, sets our agenda and makes it happen," Garcia said. "I really want to make sure that we do adopt best practices and perform our due diligence. That's my hope moving forward."

More: Coachella Valley Unified school board member steps down

Who has been the acting superintendent since Valentino's resignation?

Board President Joey Acuña Jr. sent a letter to CVUSD employees dated April 15 that "before (Valentino) announced his retirement, he put (Frances Esparza) as the administrator in charge, and for now the Board has decide to keep Dr. Esparza in that position," he wrote. "As such, she is the person in charge of the administrative and operational functions of CVUSD until the Board makes a decision on a process to hire a new Superintendent."

While it's not uncommon for a cabinet member to assume an interim position, Valentino said in an interview with The Desert Sun this week that he was surprised that his name was used in the letter, as his separation from the school district was managed through attorneys, so that matter was never discussed.

Esparza has a history of serving in executive roles.

Prior to CVUSD, Esparza said she worked for the California Department of Education for the state superintendent's office on teacher recruitment initiatives. Simultaneously, she became the first woman and Latina to serve as the chief executive officer and president for Para Los Niños, a charter school network within Los Angeles Unified School District.

Esparza led El Rancho Unified School District — serving Pico Rivera — as superintendent during the COVID-19 pandemic , as reported by the Los Angeles Times. She served the entirety of her contract, but in June 2022, despite pushback from community members, a split board of education voted 3-2 against renewing her contract without providing an explanation, according to the Whittier Daily News .

John Contreras, a board member with El Rancho Unified School District, confirmed this account during a phone call with The Desert Sun. "It was a mutual agreement and she served the school district well," he said. "We wish her nothing but the best in her future endeavors."

Esparza also previously served as assistant superintendent of the Office of English Language Learners at Boston Public Schools .

Esparza earned a bachelor's degree in international relations from the University of Southern California, a multiple single teaching credential from California State University, Los Angeles, a master's degree in educational psychology and leadership from Pepperdine University, a doctoral degree in educational leadership, administration and policy from Pepperdine, as well as a professional leadership development program at Harvard Business School.

In addition to Esparza's responsibilities as CVUSD's acting superintendent, she also serves as the assistant superintendent of educational services.

"The consideration (to pursue the superintendent position) is there, but at the same time, there's a lot that I'm doing as an assistant superintendent of educational services and I want to make sure that I am able to continue (the) great restructuring that's taken place," she told The Desert Sun in a recent interview. "But again, the academic support needed in the district, I feel needs my full attention at this point."

What's Esparza's plan to restructure the district's educational services department?

When Esparza started as assistant superintendent of education services at CVUSD in June 2023, Board Member Trinidad Arredondo, she said, asked her to transform the district.

"I told (the board), 'Give me an opportunity and I will,'" Esparza previously told The Desert Sun. "The transformation needs to be so that students are getting 100% support. They can't get that if the teachers aren't getting that, if the classified staff at the schools aren't getting that ... so we need to evaluate what is going on and then I will implement a plan."

Earlier this spring, CVUSD issued layoff notices to teachers due to the loss of federal pandemic relief funding . Around the same time, some staff members in the educational services department also received notices about their positions. In restructuring the educational services department to implement a multi-tiered system of support (MTSS) framework , Esparza said, job descriptions had to change due to the job title changes.

"So what I'm doing with the restructuring is we've enhanced the job description to include, 'What does that mean under the instructional framework of MTSS?'" Esparza said. "Instead of one director having 14 schools and managing the academic piece, the operational piece (and) the academic piece ... one director will focus solely on seven schools."

MTSS operates on three tiers: 1) universal support for all students, 2) supplemental services for students needing additional academic or behavioral assistance, and 3) individualized help for those with the greatest needs.

"It's really making sure that we're aligning our systems in the district (and) our systems at the school sites to be able to be able to use data to drive their instruction," Esparza said.

But, she said, academic test scores reveal the need for more work to ensure student data is deeply analyzed and that teachers receive proper support through professional development.

The directors will have a team, or three "families," as Esparza called it. "Within those families, they will have a team of support, people who are going to be running data, people who are going to be providing professional development," she said. "And then at every elementary school, there will be one literacy coach and one math coach that will be working with the staff to be able to provide professional development on the areas that are needed at those sites."

Due to the changes in job titles, staff in the educational services department received notices about their positions due to the restructuring. (So far, CVUSD has hired Karina De La Peña, who most recently served as principal at Valley View Elementary School, as the director of academics for elementary MTSS. Socorro Sanchez, principal at Coachella Valley High School, has been hired to serve as the director of academics for secondary MTSS.)

More: Coachella Valley Unified faces layoffs as federal pandemic-era relief funds come to an end

What does the staff think about Esparza's restructuring plan?

In June, the Coachella Valley Teachers Association released a statement about CVUSD's hiring practices with regards to the educational services department. Carissa Carrera, CVTA's president, said in an interview with The Desert Sun last month that the teachers' union raised concerns about alleged favoritism in the interview process for new directors. She asked the board to investigate.

At Thursday night's board meeting, Antoinette Gutierrez, CVUSD's director of multilingual services for the past two years, had her public comment read aloud by three members of the teachers' union, including the president. (Gutierrez, recently honored with the countywide Bilingual Educator Succeeding Together award by the Riverside chapter of the California Association for Bilingual Education , was in San Diego to serve as a panelist at a summer conference .)

Gutierrez stated that the restructuring of the educational services department resulted in the elimination of her director position and the division of the coordinator role into three positions. She said the interim assistant superintendent of human resources, under Esparza's direction, offered her an assistant principal position, which she declined, as she considered it a demotion.

Shortly after, district administration vacancies were posted on EdJoin . Gutierrez said she could have been placed in any of those positions. "Currently, there is no one left in ed services to do the work that has both legal and compliance implications," she said, referring to the title-funded English learner and migrant programs.

In her letter, she said was asked to submit her resignation a week ahead of her contract's expiration on June 30, despite having been served a notice in mid-March that her contract would not be renewed.

"I declined once again, as I am not resigning," Gutierrez wrote.

Her letter detailed several examples that, she said, the educational services department experienced under Esparza's leadership. These ranged from concerns about the upcoming three-year LCAP during its drafting to allegations of a hostile work environment. Gutierrez also outlined the accomplishments she achieved during her nearly two-year tenure at CVUSD.

Jennifer Cortez covers education in the Coachella Valley. Reach her at jennifer.cortez@desertsun.com.

This article originally appeared on Palm Springs Desert Sun: What happened to CVUSD's superintendent, and who's in charge now? Here's what to know