San Diego Unified's school board leaders say the panel is considering whether the district needs a school superintendent in the future.
Former School Superintendent Terry Grier left San Diego in October after serving only a year as the district's leader.
That's left a void in academic leadership, but trustees are in no rush to find a new leader.
In fact, the district's school board is wondering whether a strong-superintendent form of governance has been a source of their problems.
Trustee John Evans says board members are considering different models of leadership, including a team of leaders with equal power that report to the school board. He said the board wants to engage the public about these ideas before it moves forward.
“We really do want to develop a San Diego model,” Evans said. “A united model and unique to San Diego. We’re not looking for a savior superintendent, someone to save us from ourselves. We want to develop a strong structure.”
Another idea may be for the mayor to have more control over the district. However, new school board President Richard Barrera said the board needs to get a handle on next year's budget before they deal with the leadership question.
“We need to get through this budget crisis and find out how to save our school district right now,” Barrera said. “If we do that as a united community, then I think that is a great transition into a big community process about leadership.”
Barrera said a large-scale public outreach campaign on the issue will be launched later next year.
