Banning Hires a New Superintendent

The Banning Unified School District’s Board of Trustees has named Dr. Natasha Baker as District’s next superintendent.

Dr. Baker has 20 years of experience in public education and has served as a teacher, principal, chief academic officer, state school reform officer, and district-level cabinet member. Dr. Baker is a California native who grew up in Azusa, graduated from Gladstone High School in Covina, and earned a bachelor’s degree in English education from California State University, Long Beach. Her master’s degree in English is from Howard University, and she earned a doctorate in educational leadership from the University of Michigan – Dearborn. Dr. Baker will soon complete a master’s degree in finance from Johns Hopkins University.

Currently, Dr. Baker is the deputy superintendent in Hazelwood School District located in North St. Louis County, Missouri. The district’s 2,200 staff serve nearly 18,000 students from 60 different countries who speak nearly 40 different languages. As deputy, Dr. Baker has facilitated and implemented the board’s strategic plan, supported union negotiations and redistricting, drafted the district’s technology plan, revised performance-based evaluations for senior leaders, organized outreach to over 50,000 stakeholders yielding 3,000 respondents, trained staff, and led the logistics to operationalize the opening of the district’s only school-based health center for students.

Prior to serving as a deputy, Dr. Baker was Michigan’s State School Reform/Redesign officer. In that role, Dr. Baker developed an accountability system for 72 school districts and 186 schools, which impacted over 100,000 students statewide. She also wrote legislative reports, worked with the governor’s office, and presented to various committees in the Michigan legislature on academic data and accountability systems.

Board President Jason Smith commented, “We are excited to announce the choice of Dr. Natasha Baker as our Superintendent. She brings tremendous experience, educational background and excitement to serve us as our next District leader. The District conducted a nationwide search to ensure that we received applications from the best and brightest candidates available. The Board and our Consultant, Rich Thome, received 40 applications from throughout the nation and the Board, with assistance from a multi-stakeholder committee, interviewed 11 semifinalists. There were 6 finalists chosen and interviewed with the Board on April 11, 2020.”

“I am honored to be selected to serve as Banning’s next superintendent for the long term,” said Baker. “The board, staff, and larger community are all invested in the advancement of students in the global economy, and I am fully aligned with this belief system. I look forward to working collaboratively with the board, staff, parents, students, and community to take Banning Unified School District to the next level academically and operationally.”

In addition, Dr. Baker also mentioned that she is excited about homeownership in Banning’s school district boundaries, which is near her siblings, nieces, and nephews who are longtime residents of Riverside and San Bernardino counties.