Straus resigns, district extends offer for new position
SAMOHI — Ilene Straus, the lead principal and chief educational officer here, will step down next month.
Interim Superintendent Mike Matthews said late Tuesday that Straus has announced she “will be moving on,” and has been offered an administrative position as senior director of secondary education with the Santa Monica-Malibu Unified School District. Right now, the position does not exist.
The new administrative position is expected to be created in mid-July by the board of education, Matthews said. No salary has been specified because the board has not discussed the position publicly.
“I’m confident that staff will recommend it, and the board will go along with that,” Matthews said.“We would love to have the opportunity to use her (Straus’) expert-ise in middle school and high school to move the district forward. I am aware that she may be pursuing other options.”
Matthews said he could not speculate on why Straus decided to leave Samohi.
Straus didn’t return calls for comment. Matthews said Straus’ contract at Samohi expires at the end of the school year.
In recent months, Straus has come under scrutiny by a group of parents and teachers who have questioned her leadership style and her effectiveness in implementing the redesign of Samohi into six small learning communities, also called “houses,” complete with their own counselors and principals.
The redesign was intended to break up the more than 3,500 students at Samohi into smaller groups so that teachers, counselors and house principals can have better relationships with one another, and to help struggling students achieve at higher levels.
Critics of the redesign say it has led to division on campus, while supporters believe student achievement has risen because of the closer relationships developed between students and teachers. Supporters say Straus’ participation has been key in building a stronger community at Samohi and that she should not be the scapegoat for issues such as racism that are affecting high schools across the country.
Straus’ leadership and the effectiveness of the redesign are expected to be discussed heavily at the next school board meeting, scheduled for Thursday, June 1. The meeting is being held at Samohi’s Barnum Hall to accommodate the large crowd that is expected. The school board was forced to shut down the last board meeting after more than 300 people spilled out of the City Council chambers, creating a fire hazard.
The school board is looking to split the position of director of secondary education in two so that greater attention can be placed on the elementary level as well as middle school and high school, Matthews said.
“A lot of districts have made the split,and we think that it will be a way to assist in academic improvement district wide,”Matthews said.
Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on May 31, 2006. Read the original PDF.