“Remember when we had ten superintendents in eight years?” my friend John asked me the other day.  No, actually, I didn’t.  The RDP (Revolving Door Policy) had developed as an unusual phenomenon when John was teaching here in the Ocean Beach School District (1977 to 1984) but, by now, it is BAU (Business As Usual.)  In fact, I’ve long ago lost count of who and how many have served in that capacity!

In 2005, when I was writing Ocean Park School: The First Seven Decades, I asked my colleague Jan Bono if she’d write a commentary on the District’s superintendents.  She wrote a poem which is one of my all-time favorite accounts of the situation in OBSD’s head office to that time:

WHO’S THE BOSS?

(A virtual parade of Superintendents from consolidation through remodeling)
By Jan Bono OBSD Teacher Since 1977

Carl Aase began the transition,
Louis Reis was next in line,
Reis was followed by Thompson,
For awhile things were fine.

John Thompson served for seven years,
In 1980 retired,
Who knew for a quarter century
He’d be the longest hired?

Lew Moorman devoted a pretty good year,
Moved on for better pay,
But after that the “name on the door”
Was changing by the day.

Al Fedje was here for eight short months,
And spent the budget reserve.
Pat Stara made it a year and a half
Before she lost her nerve.

A double levy failure
Sent George Kontos out the door,
Guy Glenn filled in as interim,
His months just over four.

Another interim followed Glenn,
Four months we saw Tom Poe.
July ’87 brought Al number two,
We hoped he would not go.

But scarcely a year went flying by,
And Vandenberg was out.
Dick Grabenhorst agreed to help
When given a short-term shout.

Gil Johnson gave us seven “school years”
Which rivaled Thompson’s feat,
Just four months short of “history”
Vacating the top seat.

The second Dick, the second Johnson,
Was an uncontested choice,
Then his main man, Dennis Bolz
Had a year to sound his voice.

A former teacher, now board chair,
Ray Provo had time to burn,
Then hired a former colleague,
Nancey Olson took her turn.

July ’02 Tom Lockyer came,
We finally passed a bond!
But while yet “under construction,”
Our Lockyer moved along.

We almost had another one,
In June of 2005,
But he changed his mind and faxed regrets
Before he could arrive.

The Superintendents, they come and go,
The only thing changed is the name.
Though Ocean Park School has changed its look,
Her heart remains the same!

I was greatly pleased to read in yesterday’s paper that Amy Huntley – a long-time and Ocean Beach employee with wide experience from classroom teacher to administrative positions – is being considered for the superintendent’s position which is now open yet again!  Stability comes from the inside out it seems to me.  Maybe by hiring from within, OBSD can finally get it right!