Meet New Superintendent Jon Gundry

The new superintendent of the Pasadena Unified School District said Thursday that his top priority would be closing the achievement gap between some of the district's top students and its lower-achieving students.

Jon Gundry comes to the district from the Los Angeles County of Education where he served as the deputy superintendent starting in 2008 and was appointed as the interim superintendent in 2010.  He formerly served an administrator and teacher in Houston, Texas (more on ).

Gundry took and answered questions in Spanish on Thursday at his introductory meeting on the front patio of , showing off his skills mastered as an ESL (Engish as a Second Language) teacher in Texas. 

As PUSD serves a majority Latino population with significant numbers of ESL students, the skills should come in handy.

At the event Thursday Gundry mostly gave short answers to basic questions about his plans for the district.  He also briefly answered some Altadena Patch questions.

Altadena Issues

When asked about the perception among some in Altadena that the district does not have great communications with residents, Gundry said he'd want to work directly with any community that feels it is disenfranchised.

Altadena had a recent scrape with the district over the , and of course, the school board voted last Fall to , including Burbank. 

Gundry said he does not think of Altadena differently than any where else in the district.

"I'd approach the community the same as any other area," Gundry said.  He said if there is a perception that Altadena takes a back seat to the rest of the district, he would want to hear from residents on the subject, then work to improve it.

Gundry also briefly discussed his experience with one Altadena school, Odyssey Charter, which is overseen by LACOE.  He said he had personal involvment with the school and is very familiar with it, but did not discuss any specifics.

Board Support

The issue of whether Gundry was a choice endorsed by all members of the school board came up in the Pasadena Weekly, where reporter Andre Coleman quoted board member Renatta Cooper as saying that in a Saturday closed session of the board, members Ramon Miramontes, Kim Kenne and Scott Phelps voted against selecting Gundry.

Both Kenne and Miramontes told Altadena Patch on Thursday that no vote actually occured.  They said they were unwilling to select Gundry on the spot and wanted to conduct further interviews.  Miramontes acknowledged that if Cooper had actually called for a formal vote, all three likely would have voted against selecting him at that point.

The board voted on Wednesday unanimously to hire him after further interviews.

Kenne said Thursday that she is "dismayed" the details of the closed session were discussed in the media.

Miramontes said that he had some "personal reservations" about how much Gundry would be involved in the community, and whether he would prioritize communications with PUSD parents more so than the previous regime. 

He also described Gundry as "committed" and "qualified" and said he did not have any other candidate in mind that he preferred.

Both Kenne and Phelps told Patch they are happy with the choice.

A Challenge

Gundry said that when he took a job at LACOE he was already looking at possible superintendent positions, as he wants to work closely with schools as much as possible.

Pasadena Unified was one of the top jobs he was interested in, he said.  He described the job as a "challenge."

"I didn't want to be bored," Gundry said.

He said his background in ESL was an important factor in his interest in a local school district and said it makes him a good fit for PUSD.