Statement on Status of Superintendent Grier

The following statement was issued Thursday, August 20, 2009, by Shelia Jackson, President, Board of Education, San Diego Unified School District.

Today, Superintendent Grier was identified as the final candidate for the Superintendent position in the Houston Independent School District. Under Texas state law, this begins a 21-day period before a final selection can be made. Our board will be meeting with Dr. Grier as soon as possible to better understand this situation and to review our options.

Dr. Grier has provided positive leadership to our district during the last 18 months and we have made significant progress for our students during that time. He has put an excellent leadership team in place who will continue to work hard for to support our schools and boost student achievement.

I want to assure our school community and each and every member of our district team, that during this period the Board of Education remains committed to our focus on our students and to supporting our teachers, principals and our support staff to accomplish our goals. As we get ready for the new school year, we all need to celebrate our accomplishments and use the progress we have made together to help us continue to improve our district.

I also want to encourage all of our staff to continue to work hard to prepare for the best ever school year in our history. Our students depend on all of us to help them prepare for successful futures and that is our primary focus.

I remain positive and optimistic about our future. We can all look back at the 2008/09 school year with great pride in what we have accomplished for our students. This week we announced the most significant gains in STAR test results that we have seen in years. We can also be proud of the decline in our district dropout rate, the increases in students taking AP courses, and several other initiatives we have launched to improve student achievement.

We will keep you closely informed of any developments with this matter in the days ahead.

Sincerely,
Shelia Jackson
President
San Diego Unified School District
Board of Education