> ## Content Index > Fetch the complete content index at: https://www.smdp.com/llms.txt > Use this file to discover other available public pages before exploring further. # School super may be out - URL: https://www.smdp.com/school-super-may-be-out/ - Published: 2008-05-22T15:00:00.000Z - Updated: 2026-10-24T19:39:26.000Z - Author: Melody Hanatani - Tags: Education, Malibu, #archive-import *Talarico’s term was short lived* SMMUSD HDQTRS Superintendent Dianne Talarico, her term in the school district plagued by one crisis after another, is widely expected to resign at the end of the academic year to assume an educational position in Northern California. Named as former Superintendent John Deasy’s successor in July 2006, Talarico confirmed on Tuesday that she is eyeing a move to the San Francisco Bay Area where her family resides. “I am looking at some opportunities for a position that will allow me to relocate to be with my family,” Talarico said. “By the beginning of June, I will have a good idea of what my next steps will be.” Talarico would be the second top administrator in the Santa Monica-Malibu Unified School District to leave this year. Deputy Superintendent Tim Walker resigned from his post earlier this month amid a firestorm of criticism surrounding his role in the special education controversy. The possible departure comes as little surprise to school stakeholders, many saying they predicted the superintendent would leave after a series of highly-publicized issues that struck the district during her term, the trying times aggrandized with the effects of being far from family. Talarico came to Santa Monica-Malibu from the Canton City Schools in Ohio where she served as the superintendent for five years. She held several positions in the San Francisco Unified School district for nearly two decades before moving to Canton, including associate superintendent and a teacher of special education. The name of the school district to which Talarico is headed has not been released, but sources say it is a small K-8 district with roughly 2,400 students located south of San Francisco. Talarico’s appointment would still need to be approved by the district’s governance board. School board member Kathy Wisnicki, who traveled to Canton in 2006 to recruit Talarico, said the superintendent had mentioned several times that she would be seeking a position in the Bay Area. “She did not surprise us by it,”Wisnicki said. “We discussed it as a board and governance team and respect and understand her decision.” It was about six months into Talarico’s term when then-Chief Financial Officer Winston Braham resigned, fueling speculation that he had a fallout with the superintendent regarding the impending approval of a 5 percent pay raise for the district’s teachers. The former financial leader of the district was restricted from speaking publicly about the circumstances surrounding his departure for months because of a confidentiality agreement in his exit contract,which drew criticism by the school community. Braham finally spoke out during a City Council meeting last summer after his confidentiality clause was lifted. The meeting revealed little about why Braham eventually left. But it was in that same meeting when the council decided to withhold roughly half a million dollars in city funding to the school district, concerned about confidentiality clauses within special education settlement agreements, a controversial practice in the school district preceding Talarico’s arrival.The council ordered an independent audit of the special education program and demanded a moratorium on the so-called “secret deals.” The report, which was released last month, found that while confidentiality clauses and settlement agreements were legal, there was concern in its utilization in Santa Monica-Malibu, which has seen more than 140 in the past three years. Talarico has since made a number of recommendations on how to change the culture within the special education department. Tricia Crane, one of the most outspoken critics of the settlement agreements, said that Talarico’s possible departure comes with a promise of change and leadership at the top. “The school district can now go about finding a superintendent who is smart and strong and who is attracted to the opportunity to build his or her own cabinet, allowing for the sort of clean sweep that is needed to bring about the culture of change called for in the recent special education audit,”Crane said. City officials said that the neither Talarico nor Walker’s departures would affect the outcome of the money,which would be dependent on changes being made in the department’s policy, not in personnel. “It is related to creating transparency and ending confidentiality clause practices in employment settlements and in agreements between the district and parents of special education students,” City Manager Lamont Ewell said. Mayor Herb Katz, among the councilmem-bers who called for a moratorium on the confidentiality clauses, said that while he respected Talarico on a personal level, he felt that she might have been overwhelmed by the position. “From what I saw at the council level,I don’t think she was forceful enough,” he said. “We need a very strong superintendent that really needs to guide her board.” Several parents agree, including Malibu resident Laura Rosenthal, who is heading an effort to examine a possible secession from the school district. “I don’t think it was ever a great fit for our district,” she said. “I think that our district would do well under different leadership an I wish her all the luck in the world.” INHERITING PROBLEMS The most recent crisis to hit the district was the arrest of Thomas Beltran, an ESL teacher at Lincoln Middle School, on sexual molestation charges, accused of inappropriate conduct with his students. Beltran, a veteran of the district for nearly 30 years, was investigated for a similar allegation in 2006, which was never reported to the district administration. Following Beltran’s arrest earlier this month, the district has been criticized for its policy on sexual molestation reporting, which states that school site administrators must notify either the police or the Los Angeles County Department of Child and Family Services. The line of communication does not extend to the district administration, according to the current policy, which is in the process of being updated. Many board members said they feel that Talarico inherited the bulk of the problems the district faced this year, pointing out that the settlement agreements had been taking place for years. “Dianne has responded to crisis after crisis and we are fortunate that she was able to do the right thing under very trying circumstances,” Oscar de la Torre, the school board president, said.“She helped us through some hard issues and our district is in a better place right now because of her leadership.” School officials similarly praised Talarico for her leadership during the past two years,putting together the initial steps in improving the special education department and updating policies related to sexual molestation allegations. They also pointed out that Talarico retained the services of a Fiscal Crisis and Management Assistance Team, which found that the district could support a 5 percent teacher pay raise. “It seems as though the last two years have been one major challenge after another and when you’re the leader of the district, those challenges eventually wind up on your desk,” Harry Keiley, the president of the Santa Monica-Malibu Classroom Teachers Association, said. “I think any reasonable person realizes the last two years presented Dianne and the district with many challenges and over time that starts to become exhausting.” If and when Talarico announces her resignation, the board will need to name an interim superintendent and launch a search for a permanent replacement. De la Torre said that an interim will not be within the organization, pointing to the “power struggle” when Deasy resigned in 2006. “We learned from the last time that power struggle can become problematic... and we want to void that this time around,” he said. *Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on May 22, 2008.* [Read the original PDF.](https://s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/smdp%5Fbackissues/052208.pdf?ref=smdp.com)