He previously reported in Contra Costa County and before joining the Bay Area News Group he worked in Eureka and Santa Barbara. He spent 6 years as a principal and assistant principal in Oceanside, including the turnaround principal for Jefferson Middle and Oceanside High schools. The West Contra Costa Unified School District's Board of Trustees named Othello School District Superintendent Dr. Kenneth "Chris" Hurst, Sr. as the District's next superintendent. Kenneth "Chris" Hurst, who will take over as the first permanent African American superintendent of West Contra Costa Unified School District within a few weeks, has his sights set on closing longstanding achievement gaps between Black, Latino and white students at the 30,000-student district. Find him taking walks around town; he is always looking for story tips. We kind of moved every two years. Diablo Unified, Kyla Johnson-Trammell of Oakland Unified, Vincent Matthews of San Francisco Unified and Harry Doc Ervin of Bakersfield City School District. Before taking the job in May, Hurst was superintendent of the Othello School District in Othello, Washington, for five years, where he is credited with increasing graduation rates and decreasing overall student absences. We are thrilled with Dr. Hursts background, experience, and readiness to hit the ground running here in our District and help us to the next level, WCCUSD Board President Mister Phillips said. You know, you hear about the districts that are mandating vaccinations, we are not there yet, but were having conversations about strongly encouraging vaccinations because we know thats one of the best mitigation strategies that we can employ. Tell me about yourself and how did you came to be involved in education? School board trustee Jamela Smith-Folds also expressed enthusiasm Wednesday about hiring Hurst and assured him that the responsibility of turning the district around wont fall solely on him. Dr. Hurst may think that his SoCal experience will help him. I am excited to get to work in West Contra Costa Unified and about working together to provide a world-class educational experience for students that prepares them to be globally competent and allows them to compete and participate in our diverse and global society, Hurst said. Dr. Hurst succeeds Matthew Duffy, who announced in November that he would not seek an extension to his contract. Cmon, folks lets stop expecting out of the box miracles in the face of head in the sand funding. Then you have whats called the summer slide, so they get even further behind because of the three months that theyre off during the summer. All Access Digital offer for just 99 cents! Phillips declined to comment on what set Hurst apart from other applicants, citing a closed-session deliberation, but he did praise the hiring process as yielding a desirable outcome. The position title is Secondary Teacher. So those are the things that Im going to be bringing from Othello to here. I think for me, overarching, were going to be working on what we call a graduate profile, which is what we want our students to know and be able to do when they graduate. Dr. Chris Hurst, Superintendent of WCCUSD and the Office of African American Student Achievement (OAASA) led the effort to raise the Pan-African flag at all schools and at the district office for . Really, we love to read. He also holds an Associate of Arts degree from National University, San Diego. Get Morning Report and other email newsletters. Ervin. Please check your e-mail for a link to activate your account. RICHMOND, Calif. (KGO) -- West Contra Costa Superintendent Dr. Chris Hurst says he was disappointed to hear Galileo Academy of Science and Technology had to forfeit their game against. Ive been to Japan, Ive been to Okinawa, Ive been to South Korea, a lot of different places. Hurst said he assisted in Bersins effort to transform three schools whose students were lagging significantly in test scores and other measures San Diego, Kearny and Crawford high schools. I think its not just Richmond, I think its an issue across the United States and mostly found in large urban school districts, you see a high rate of suspensions. She is visually impaired, she is blind. And as I look at large, urban systems like San Diego or LA or Oakland or Long Beach and even, West Contra Costa Unified School District, these are large systems which for the most part are failing are Black and brown kids. Sylvester Greenwood andDr. Cynthia LeBlanc each served one-year terms as interim superintendents. UPDATE 10:06 a.m.: Incumbent Del. So I have a number of priorities but I would certainly say my top priority is improving student learning and student achievement. Diablo Unified, Kyla Johnson-Trammell of Oakland Unified, Vincent Matthews of San Francisco Unified and Harry Doc Ervin of Bakersfield City School District. Kenneth Chris Hurst, who will take over as the first permanent African American superintendent of West Contra Costa Unified School District within a few weeks, has his sights set on closing longstanding achievement gaps between Black, Latino and white students at the 30,000-student district. He collaborated to implement the Future Ready technology initiative, designed to create a shared vision of preparing students for success in college, career, and citizenship. Is it really a tribute to Supt. The Boards vote followed an exhaustive six-month search process in which WCCUSD held more than 50 listening sessions with students, families, staff, and community stakeholders. Planning and implementing project-based learning would be expecting a team that is still at the T-ball level to perform at the major league level. Hurst got his start in the education field in San Diego County, after serving 12 years in the Marines; he served combat duty in Desert Storm and was a drill instructor, communications specialist and maintenance supervisor at Camp Pendleton. There are also massive inequalities in income levels among families in the district and the different communities it encompasses. Dr. Hurst has 23 years of experience teaching and leading equity in urban, suburban, and rural K-12 districts. The finalists are Camas School District Superintendent Jeff Snell, right, and Kenneth (Chris) Hurst, superintendent of the Othello School District in Adams County. WCCUSD's new Superintendent Dr. Kenneth "Chris" Hurst's first official day was May 17. Education | General | Kennedy High School | community. Employee Information Salary History Employer Information Employer Thames Valley District School Board Employees with the same employer Position Information Thats why I stayed in education, because there have to be people willing to challenge the system, and to really rewrite the script of education. Hurst became superintendent of the 4,500-student Othello School District in central Washington in 2016. And I did not want people to have that experience and kids to have that experience, so thats why I went into education. I think its really dependent upon our students I think its individual success and individually defined. But this is its first permanent African American appointee. Well involve students also into this conversation because we want to hear from them about what they want to have when they graduate. Before his career in education, Dr. Hurst served 12 years in the Marines. She also has this Braille laptop as well. Dr. Hurst has served as the Superintendent of the Othello District in Othello, Washington, since 2016. But Hurst doesnt just want to throw things at people, he said in an interview with EdSource. Dr. Hurst also served as an administrator in the San Diego Unified and Poway Unified school districts. Linsi Crain Public Affairs Manager, Chevron Richmond Refinery. My dad was my role model and he showed me how to be a man, and he showed me how to carry myself, and he showed me how to be a person of integrity and a person with ethics and values and morals. Board of Trustees Hires Districts First Permanent African American Superintendent. He also implemented Othellos K-12 pathway, the Districts Social-Emotional Learning Standards. So I just love spending time with her. Chris Hurst is an Associate Superintendent at Oceanside Unified School District based in Oceanside, California. The Board voted 5-0 at Wednesday night's board meeting on a three-year contract for Dr. Hurst that begins May 17. I think ethnic studies is certainly a great way to start. In Oceanside, Dr. Hurst collaborated with ConnectEd California, implementing Linked Learning to establish K-12 industry-aligned pathways to prepare students to succeed in college and career. Hurst is the districts 10th leader and its first non-interim African American superintendent. Hurst is apparently just another neoliberal, protecting the wealthy by betraying his students and their families, when he asserts that his out of the box ideas (in fact, common buzzwords for years now) can change change educational outcomes without addressing wealth inequality. So some students may define success as being able to get into Stanford or USC or Berkeley or UCSD or something like that, and that they have that list of goals. That is not to say unions are bad, quite the contrary they just need to focus more on helping protect employees, especially the most vulnerable not raising salaries. Were able to hire more counselors as well. Dr. In the 2019-20 school year at West Contra Costa Unified, about 56% of its students were Latino, 31% were English learners, and 66% qualified for free and reduced-price lunch. Shes an amazing person and shes the wisest person that I know. Do you have any plan to address any trauma that may have occurred in the household during the pandemic? Hurst said he assisted in Bersins, From San Diego, he became a principal in Oceanside in. If you continue to be blocked, please send an email to secruxurity@sizetedistrict.cVmwom with: https://richmondstandard.com/community/education/2021/04/15/wccusd-selects-charles-hurst-as-new-superintendent/, Mozilla/5.0 (iPhone; CPU iPhone OS 15_3_1 like Mac OS X) AppleWebKit/605.1.15 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/15.3 Mobile/15E148 Safari/604.1, A summary of what you were doing and why you need access to this site. Despite that, those districts have all been able to creatively offer engaging curriculum and programs like maker-spaces in which students can bring in materials from the house for STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) projects. During his five years at Othello, graduation rates increased from 71% to 87%, and absences declined by 33%, he said. He also boosted the districts linked learning programs, which integrate academics with real-world work experiences. And that translates to them, saying, OK, well, were going to discipline this student, where with a white student, or with even an Asian student, they may not have given the same consequence. Dr. Hurst earned his Doctorate in Education, K-12 Leadership (Magna Cum Laude), at the University of Southern California in 2011, and his Master of Arts Degree in Educational Administration (Magna Cum Laude) in 2008, and his Bachelor of Science, a degree in Mathematics in 1997 at California State University, San Marcos. We request that commenters consistently use the same login name. Although only 6% of the states student enrollment is Black, an even smaller percentage have been selected to run districts. There are some other pieces that are priorities for me but I would say those are the top two priorities. Next, he worked as a principal under former San Diego Unified Superintendent Alan Bersin. He also holds an Associate of Arts degree from National University, San Diego. Thats really what our parents and community is worried about, they want to know that the kids are coming back to a safe environment. So sometimes when you walk into classrooms and even college classrooms, students are disengaged. Contact Us Educational Equity - Title IX Location: 1108 Bissell Ave. (510) 231-1118 Fax: (510) 236-0662 Dr. Kenneth Chris Hurst Uniform Complaint Procedures Bullying WCCUSD Nondiscrimination Policies and Procedures Non-Discrimination Policy: View the Announcement of Non-Discrimination/Harassment My dad was in the Army. Thats probably the biggest piece for me as far as priorities, is really working with our students. Here is a Q&A Richmond Confidential did with Hurst last week. Superintendent Hurst is WCCUSD's 10th permanent superintendent and first permanent African American superintendent. And sometimes were just like sitting on the couch and she has a book and I have a book and were just kind of reading together in the same room, or Im working on a laptop or something like that. At USC, I had a professor that showed me how to challenge the system, and that you cant just go on to public education and accept the condition that its in, that we have to literally rewrite the script. I enjoyed it. If you are using a VPN, try disabling it. I have a number of concerns. She has a lot of Braille technology in our home, so she has devices that read books to her, that can download a book from this software. Watching superintendents fail in LCFF-funded districts in high-cost counties has become routine. Before his career in education, Dr. Hurst served 12 years in the Marines. Privacy Policy Kenneth Chris Hurst Sr. is the new leader of the West Contra Costa Unified School District,replacing Matthew Duffy, who led WCCUSD for five years. I was born in Germany. What are your plans for a successful reopening in the fall? That doesnt happen. So what were doing right now were trying to build a system that allows that to happen, for more and more students to be successful. From San Diego, he became a principal in Oceanside in North San Diego County, turning around Jefferson Middle School and Oceanside High, he said. Our kids need to see positive influences that resemble their cultures, their ethnic background and ethnic makeup.. Doctorate in Education in K-12 Leadership, at the University of Southern California in 2011. So its going to be really important that our teachers check in individually with our students and really find out whats happening. He collaborated to implement the Future Ready technology initiative, designed to create a shared vision of preparing students for success in college, career, and citizenship. We love to walk. Before leading the Othello School District, Dr. Hurst served as Associate Superintendent of Educational Services in Oceanside Unified School District, a 19,000 student district 35 minutes northwest of San Diego. He also implemented the districts social-emotional learning standards prescribed by the state, and the number of children enrolled in preschool tripled, the news release said. This is not a warm-body job.. Im equally excited about deepening our understanding of equity and systemic inequities and also moving toward what it should look like, feel like, and sound like to have an equitable and culturally responsive education for all students.. The theory of action is: build capacity across a system so we could better support the students, because thats what it comes down to, how are we better helping and supporting students. Why struggle with bad credits when you can actually get them fixed within a couple of days with, I tried getting a car loan sometime last year but my credit score of about 521 ruined the process. What is your biggest concern heading into the school year? Graduation rate is a systemic issue and it really goes to building this whole healthy system. 2023 Richmond Confidential. The Board voted 5-0 at Wednesday nights board meeting on a three-year contract for Dr. Hurst that begins May 17. Hurst is equity-focused, has a background of increasing student academic achievement, is data-driven, works in collaboration with all labor partners and families, and is always student-centered, Board Trustee Demetrio Gonzalez Hoy said. The district plans to reopen campuses for hybrid instruction on Mondayafter more than a year of distance learning. Categorical Instructional Support Services (CISS), Early Learning Pre-K to Adult Educational Operations, Office of African American Student Achievement (OAASA), Teacher Support and Assistance Program (TSAP), Community Budget Advisory Committee (CBAC), Research, Assessment, Accountability & Data (RAAD), West Contra Costa Unified School District, Blackboard Web Community Manager Privacy Policy (Updated). So really, my concept is that we get to the point where were planning individual learning plans for our students, starting from pre-K going through the 12th grade. Keep it simple and focused on a few aligned professional practices. Its going to take a community effort, to take all of us working together as one for a shared vision., Currently, only four of the states 30 largest school districts have Black superintendents. Dr. Hurst also served as an administrator in the San Diego Unified and Poway Unified school districts. Chief Business Official: Robert McEntire Interim Associate Superintendent / Chief Business Officer (510) 231-1170 robert.mcentire@wccusd.net. And whether thats either drug abuse, or some other sort of trauma that students are experiencing, we want to make sure that we partner with those agencies so that they can really check in either individually or with groups, those students. Chris Hurst -- Los Angeles, California, United States 1 connection. Its not just about getting a job and making money. WCCUSD received nearly 30 applications for the position from throughout the country. Are there strategies you used in the Othello, Washington, district that you hope to implement here? Smith-Folds added that her biggest reason for choosing Hurst was hearing him speak about his wife, Crystal, a special education teacher who Hurst turns to as a sounding board for major decisions. He received a bachelor of science in mathematics at California State University, San Marcos, in 1997 before teaching math, algebra, college preparation and computer science in Poway. He refused to let it end in Game 7, Do Not Sell/Share My Personal Information. He wants to hear from everyone at the district to see what strategies they can come up with together. And its not been happening, especially with our Black and our Latinx students, so thats a big concern as well. Othellos student population this year is 91% Latino; 32% are English learners, and 75% qualify for free and reduced-price lunch. How do you like to spend your leisure time? In his new role, Dr. Hurst will bear the distinction of the being the WCCUSD's first permanent African American superintendent. Chris Hurst's Phone Number and Email Last Update. And ultimately, our parents and our communities, they want to see their children succeed. She actually contracted encephalitis at 9, which is a virus, and we believe it was an insect like a mosquito that was carrying the virus, but shes had to go through a lot in her life and to prove to people that she can do anything, because sometimes people view people who are visually impaired as being disabled and not being able to do certain things. We really want to make sure that we have structures in place for every school, every classroom, so that were meeting the social, emotional, learning needs of our students. Thinking outside the box will simply never outweigh the fact that WCCUSD has 9% less purchasing power than its demographic peers elsewhere in California. Ive been to France and Italy and Austria. I talked about [social, emotional learning] as well, thats a big concern. Click here for EdSource's Comments Policy. Marvin Parker, 99th Logistics Readiness Squadron superintendent, Chief Master Sgt. Chris is always trying to improve himself and looking for the good in others. They didnt in 2019 or after or didnt say they did? He will have a three-year contract still pending final approval by the board with a starting salary of $270,000 per year (and 2% increases each year). As Superintendent of the 4,500 student District located about 3 hours southeast of Seattle, Dr. Hurst increased graduation rates by 16 percent from 71 percent to 87 percent and reduced absences by 33 percent. Robert Hurst is an employee working in Thames Valley District School Board, according to Province of Ontario, Treasury Board Secretariat. Richmond Confidential assumes no liability for comments posted to the site and no endorsement is implied; commenters are solely responsible for their own content. Michael Littleton Richmond Promise Board Chair, Former Senior Vice President of Finance, Gu Energy Labs. Find Us . So I would say COVID safety and overall safety is a big component. Two-thirds of the students qualify for free and reduced price meals. His acumen in social justice, equity, and focus on accelerating student achievement here is impressive. Hursts belief in the application of research-based practices and his experience in systems thinking will add structure to our organization, yet enable our entrepreneurial spirit, Board Trustee Leslie Reckler said. The District also gathered more than 6,000 responses from the community on the next Superintendents qualities and qualifications. But that means a lot of work needs to happen within the district, because right now, as I look at our district, West Contra Costa Unified School District, were not set up for success. The long term goal is to really transform our system of education so that more and more of our students are achieving, high achieving and achieving their goals to either go to college, or going to a particular career. Ive been in the San Diego area the longest, I was there for 35 years, so we kind of call Southern California our home. Dr. Hurst and his wife Crystal have two grown children, a daughter who is a 6th-grade teacher and a son who is a computer scientist. During his five years at Othello, graduation rates increased from 71% to 87%, and absences declined by 33%, He also implemented the districts social-emotional learning standards. But Im also a big proponent in culturally relevant teaching as well. Hurst has also used a train the trainer approach to professional development. The staff at Richmond High School are backing student demands and uplifting them to engage the whole community. We have to look at our training for our principals, because our principals have responsibility of going into the classrooms and being able to identify what are the elements of culturally responsive teaching, what does great teaching look like, and ensuring that theyre providing really good authentic feedback to those teachers as well, thats going to build their capacity. Hurst got his start in the education field in San Diego County, after serving 12 years in the Marines; he served combat duty in Desert Storm and was a drill instructor, communications specialist and maintenance supervisor at Camp Pendleton. Quitman ISD 600 N Winnsboro Street Quitman, TX 75783 Phone: 903-763-5000 FAX: 903-763-2710 Email: masonc@quitmanisd.net Best to relabel it the Professional Practices Gap. , and the number of children enrolled in preschool tripled, the news release said. Read More . His second should be to Assm. And if we can build capacity with the leaders so that they are expert observers of instruction, especially culturally responsive teaching, then they can better support the teachers and build their capacity. Hurst should identify a few professional practices such as Explicit Instruction or Formative Assessment with Descriptive Feedback and develop a plan to implement, monitor, and hold everyone accountable for the execution of these aligned practices at very high performance levels. One unfortunate issue he has to face is for funding was the unions driven zealous raising of salaries that hurt the district. He became assistant principal in Poway Unified just north of San Diego, where he helped open Westview High School in 2002. So its going to look different for every single student. I'm excited about this partnership.. I think Ive already talked to you about the soft start and checking with our students about their social social emotional learning needs. While serving as the Associate Superintendent of Educational Services, he supervised the Oceanside Promises implementation to ensure all Oceanside students graduated ready for college and career and established the Oceanside Promise Foundation, a 501(c)(3). document.getElementById( "ak_js_1" ).setAttribute( "value", ( new Date() ).getTime() ); We welcome your comments. AnnMarie Baines Founder & Executive Director, The Practice Space. Dr. Hurst has a focused intention to plant seeds of greatness in WCCUSD students, provide resources, and create opportunities.. 12/31/2022 7:59 PM. Chris Hurst (D) officially conceded to Jason Ballard (R) Wednesday morning in the race for the House of Delegates' 12th District. No FCMAT investigation was called in, a grand jury and the board could have each requested it along with the county COE (whom I emailed and sent material to with no response) or the superintendents could have. He and his wife, Crystal, have two grown children. Hell get better at his craft, but he is a sitting superintendent with a track record of success, not just where he currently is, but everywhere hes gone, from what I can see.. Your wife, Crystal Hurst, is also in education? The Vancouver Public Schools board of directors narrowed the selection for superintendent to two candidates after meeting in executive session on Tue., Feb. 23. He earned a master of arts in educational administration in 2008 and a. Like many large urban California districts, West Contra Costa Unified has experienced considerable budget woes in recent years. He went on to become associate superintendent of educational services at Oceanside Unified, where he oversaw the start of the Oceanside Promise a program with a nonprofit arm intended to ensure all Oceanside students would graduate college or be career ready. So it really boils down to our teaching force and really preparing them to be culturally responsive to our students. West Contra Costa Unified school board members unanimously approve a three-year superintendent contract for Kenneth Chris Hurst, shown with his wife Crystal in the center of the bottom row. A lengthy search process involved 50 listening sessions with staff and families, and the district fielded over 6,000 comments from the community, according to the release. I think thats a big concern. But what we see also across the United States and in Richmond is that, generally speaking, our teaching force is made up 70% of white women. Superintendent Dr. Kenneth "Chris" Hurst, Sr. is WCCUSD's 10th permanent superintendent. With my wife. I had a principal that was a mentor for me as well. Read More. I have seen him on the phone, while emailing someone and texting yet another about a different issue, Stevenson said via email. Dr. Hurst may think that his SoCal experience will help him. What kind of role model do you want to be to your students? How do we create spaces that allow us to really develop those relationships with adults and students and students to students as well.? Hurst said theres a correlation between students not being in class due to suspensions and expulsion and their academic performance. After a nearly six-month search, the West Contra Costa Unified School District has hired a new superintendent. Hurst is not just qualified to support our district through these very challenging times, but he has also gone through a successful school reopening in his previous district.. Contact. Email. Were trying to build expert teachers and expert leaders as well. Dr. Hurst also tripled the number of children enrolled in preschool and increased the percent of preschool students prepared for kindergarten from 30 percent to more than 98 percent. When you engage students, whether its K through 12 or college students, in processes like design thinking, or problem-based learning, or project-based learning, or learning by doing, then that changes everything. Only the JLAC, County COE, or school district can ask for a FCMAT investigation not individuals nor CDE. That is a huge concern, and we have been stagnant for years for a number of years. The research says that kids should be reading at least 20 minutes per day or parents should be reading to their kids 20 minutes per day. He started his educational career in Poway Unified as a math and computer programming and computer science teacher. Dr. Kenneth Hurst Email: chris.hurst@wccusd.net Phone: (510) 231-1103 . It really means that we have to have our teachers trained in culturally responsive teaching, but also we have to look at the curriculum that were putting in front of our kids. Richmond Confidential is an online news service produced by the UC Berkeley Graduate School of Journalism for, and about, the people of Richmond, California. I think its important for African-American, Latinx and students of color to see other people of color in leadership positions, Hurst said. Hurst is only one of a tiny number of Black superintendents among the states 1,000-plus school districts. Because of the professors or because of the teachers. More than half of the districts students are Latino, 14% are Black, 10% are white, and 8% are Asian. But also, theres an issue with the learning loss that has happened as well with the COVID back in March of 2020, and making sure we have the right data in front of our teachers so that we can really assess our students and where they are to meet their needs.
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