BY VINCENT FRANCO
Debra Kaplan has been in education for 38 years and plans to wrap up her career by retiring this coming December. She has spent the last three years of her career here at the West Covina Unified School District.
Kaplan has been superintendent at the district since August of 2011. Before coming to West Covina she was superintendent at Dobbs Ferry Union Free School District in Westchester, New York for 5 years.
On September 25, Kaplan sent a letter to her colleagues and friends at WCUSD announcing her retirement.
Retiring was a hard decision for Kaplan.
“I’m very committed to West Covina and our students, schools, staff and parents,” Kaplan said.
One main reason for Kaplan’s retirement was a newborn grandchild and two other grandchildren that she has.
“After some very meaningful discussions with my family, I decided it was time for me to focus on my family and spending quality time with my grandchildren,”she said.
The last three years that Kaplan has spent here at WCUSD have been the most rewarding to her. Facing many challenges and accomplishing just as much. When Kaplan first came to WCUSD she faced a lot of the district’s financial problems, but was able to fix them without cutting student programs or staff.
Kaplan enjoyed being superintendent here at WCUSD and working close with its staff, who she says are focused on making sure that all students achieve at the highest level possible.
“I have enjoyed developing the plan and being able to provide our staff with the resources and professional development that enables them to meet our students needs,” Kaplan said.
Kaplan says that West Covina has had a reputation of putting students first.
“After three years of working with our administrators and staff members I understand why.”
Kaplan looks forward to working together with everyone for the next three months before her retirement.
In her letter Kaplan wrote, “ I have personally gotten to know many of you, and appreciate the strong relationship that we built. This district and community will always hold a very special place in my heart.”
The search for a new superintendent has already begun and will be done by January. On Oct. 27, there was a meeting, held at the district office, for the community to come in and give their opinion on what they are looking for in a superintendent.
The meeting was held by Dennis M. Smith and Mike Escalante, both former WCUSD superintendents, from the Leadership Associates, a search firm hired by the district to look for the best person available for the role of superintendent. Although the attendance to the meeting was low, there were some good points made.
Parents were concerned about the districts special needs programs and feel like it’s a big issue that should be dealt with soon. The parents want a superintendent who is approachable and understanding. They want to be able to communicate with him or her easily, and not be stopped by their “bulldogs” as one parents put it, referring to how inaccessible a superintendent can be.
One of the parents said she tried to reach Kaplan once but she didn’t get a response. It took and outside agency called “Parents Place” just to reach her.
The search for the next superintendent will go on for the next three months in a simple process. The Leadership Association has put out the word for the opening of the position and already has received approximately 30 applications.
The application process for the position closes on Nov. 17. Then they will do a background check on those applicants and choose who they think is the best. Afterwards the remaining applicants are presented to the board, where they will do another background check and it will be decided from there. If the board feels none of the applicants are a good fit, they can ask for the Leadership Association to find more people to pick from.
