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Board Member Steve Zimmer
In anticipation of what’s sure to be a long and dramatic school board meeting tomorrow, LA Unified board member Steve Zimmer says he’s optimistic that the board can convince Superintendent John Deasy not to resign as head of the nation’s second largest school district.
“What I know is that I want to continue to work with John Deasy as superintendent and I believe that a majority of the board wants to continue to work with him,” Zimmer said at a meeting with reporters earlier today.
Zimmer said he is still not clear on what precipitated rumors that the embattled superintendent intends to retire from the district — whether it is the public scrutiny of the troubled iPad program or Deasy’s impending performance evaluation, which many had speculated would trash him — but Zimmer says neither the board nor the superintendent has a “reached a point that we can’t find a remedy.”
“There was never going to be a move to remove him, squeeze him out, or force him out,” Zimmer said, adding, “The overall evaluation will be positive. There will be points for improvement, and we should expect that. Because that’s how we improve.”
Asked if the board has thought about finding a replacement for Deasy or an interim leader he said, “We are prepared for something we do not seek.”
Zimmer also disputed any suggestion that the board was forcing him out. “That might be a compelling narrative, but it’s fiction,” he said.