Woods Named New BHUSD Superintendent

The Beverly Hills Unified School District is poised to have a more permanent staff than it has had in years with Tuesday’s appointment of Dr. Gary Woods as the new superintendent and the reappointment of assistant superintendents Alex Cherniss and Dawnalyn Murakawa-Leapard.

The Board of Education, as expected, unanimously approved a four-year contract for Woods to become the permanent superintendent starting July 1. Until mid-May, Woods was superintendent of the San Marino Unified School District, which has ranked No. 1 in California’s academic performance scores for the last seven years.

“I look at us as a team,” Woods said when he appeared before the board to accept the position. “I am very excited to be here and to seeing all of you on July 1.”

Woods was accompanied by wife Lisa and their four children. For the first time in about a decade, the BHUSD superintendent will have his own children in the city schools.

According to the nine-page contract posted as a link on the BHUSD website, Woods will earn $249,000 a year, with a $500 monthly auto allowance for using his car for district business. The board also voted to pay for an undetermined amount of relocation costs; with the board’s direction, Woods will get three bids for his move and BHUSD will pay the lowest bid.

In his appearance before the board, Woods thanked BHUSD acting Superintendent for his leadership of the district and his help with the transition. Douglas, a popular figure with many PTA leaders and school principals, has served in his position since last summer.

The board also voted 4-1 to extend for another three years the contracts of  as assistant superintendent for business services and  as assistant superintendent for human resources. Board member Myra Lurie voted against the extension because she said she believed Woods should be free to name new people to those positions after he becomes superintendent.

Both assistant superintendents have been in their current positions for less than a year.

The other board members disagreed with Lurie, with Vice President Brian Goldberg saying the community wants stability in BHUSD's administration.

“After years of problems, the fine work of Dr. Cherniss and … Dr. Murakawa-Leapard helped us attract the superintendent of the top district in the state,” Goldberg said.

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