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Tom Waldman, the communications director
Tom Waldman is moving on, although he’s not going far.
The Director of Communications for LA Unified is stepping into a new role with the district: the newly created post as Executive Director of Board Communications.
Taking on the role, which was Superintendent John Deasy’s idea, means Waldman will work with the school board, exclusively. He will field all media communications for the six, soon to be seven, board members, and he’ll manage communications between them and Deasy.
“There’s a misconception that there’s bad relationship between the superintendent and the board, so this is a way to work on tightening that relationship,” Waldman told LA School Report.
Waldman took over district communications and media relations about three years ago. From 2007 to July 2011, he was chief of staff to school board member Tamar Galatzan.
Deasy’s Special Assistant, Lydia Ramos, will take over as the head of the district’s communications office starting in mid-July.
“This is a return to the communications office and to journalism for me,” said Ramos, who worked as a Public Information Officer between 2008 to 2011.
“My first day as a journalist was almost exactly 20 years ago,” she recalled. “I remember because my very first day at NBC, I was waiting for O.J. Simpson to show up to court. Of course he never did.” That’s the day he hit the road in the white Bronco, cop cars and cameras hot on his tail in a slow chase.
Waldman, the TV host
Ramos says she wants to celebrate LA Unified’s “major initiatives.” She added, “Our parents and our teachers are the public…we need to tell them our story.”
As for Waldman, if the new gig doesn’t work out, he can always rely on his other job — hosting a TV series on KLCS called “Rock N’ Roll Stories,” in which he interviews musicians. He sometimes wears a leather jacket.