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LAUSD Superintendent Ray Cortines
* UPDATED
As promised, LA Unified Superintendent Ramon Cortines has completed the reorganization of the district’s MiSiS leadership team, promoting a few employees and setting up a new chain of command with himself and Chief Deputy Superintendent Michelle King at the top.
In the new hierarchy of the Information Technology Division (ITD), Cortines has named Diane Pappas as Chief Advisor to the Superintendent. She will be directly overseeing all MiSiS related activities. Pappas most recently served as Chief Education and Litigation Counsel in the Office of General Counsel. Meanwhile, Chief Strategy Officer Matt Hill will take over managing the team that had reported to the Chief Information Officer, Ron Chandler, who resigned last week.
Cortines told LA School Report last week he plans to advertise the CIO opening immediately but cautioned “that’s going to take months.”
Earlier today he sent a memo to the seven school board members, outlining his plans for filling the job in a “collaborative and transparent search process.”
Before the search is initiated, he said, the district’s Personnel Commission will spend two weeks collecting feedback from parents, teachers, administrators and other clerical staff on the specifics of the job description. Further, interviews for the CIO position will be conducted by a panel that includes external stakeholders as well as one board member as an observer.
Meanwhile, under the new system Hill and Pappas will work together to implement Cortines’ and King’s vision for MiSiS.
Pappas will also oversee the Director of IT Program Management and Enterprise Systems, Marvin Cruz. Gary Sabia, who was elevated to Program Manager of MiSiS just last week, reports to Cruz.
Finally, the district’s expert consultant, Arnold Viramontes, will continue to operate outside of this structure. Viramontes will remain on staff through the end of December, providing guidance and recommendations for fixing MiSiS.
* Adds Cortines memo, outlining plans for seeking a new CIO.