PORTLAND, Ore. — The outgoing superintendent of Portland Public Schools will take on the role of CEO of a Los Angeles nonprofit in early April, according to a statement shared Thursday by PPS.
The district revealed in December that Superintendent Guadalupe Guerrero would not be renewing his contract, saying that he'd step down as of Feb. 16. Sandy Husk, a former Salem-Keizer Public Schools superintendent, has been tapped to step in on an interim basis.
Guerrero joined PPS in 2017, leading Oregon's largest school district for nearly seven school years, including through the pandemic-era closures, remote learning and, more recently, a contentious teacher strike that lasted most of November, keeping students out of classrooms for more than two weeks of instruction time.
According to the press release from Partnership for Los Angeles Schools, Guerrero will start as CEO on April 2. The organization says it is "one of the country's largest in-district public school transformation efforts."
"I'm thrilled to join the Partnership and to build on the collective effort focused on achieving educational equity for underserved students of color,” Guerrero said. “I look forward to collaborating with our educators, families, the Partnership’s Board of Directors, staff, and LAUSD leaders to build on the incredible work of the past 15 years to ensure improved outcomes for Black and Latino students in Boyle Heights, South LA, and Watts.”
The nonprofit cited Guerrero's 30 years of experience in improving education at underserved urban public schools; including his tenure in Portland, where they said the district strengthened its commitment to ensuring every student has equitable educational opportunities.
"We are confident that Guadalupe's leadership will significantly contribute to the continued success of our organization," said Carolyn Webb de Macias, chair of the Partnership’s Board of Directors. "His particular qualifications and experience make him the right leader to take our 20 Partnership schools to the next level. With Guadalupe as our new CEO, we will remain steadfast on closing the unacceptable opportunity gap for Black and Brown students in our city.”
Guerrero will take over from Joan Sullivan Anane, who the nonprofit says stepped down on Dec. 31 after serving as CEO for 10 years. They credited Anane with making the nonprofit "one of the most influential and respected education organizations in Los Angeles" and helping increase the share of students doing reading and math at grade level by more than 50%.
"As we continue our mission to provide quality education to the students in the Boyle Heights, South Los Angeles, and Watts communities, we believe that Guadalupe’s leadership will play a pivotal role in driving our goals forward," said Melanie Lundquist, co-founder of the Partnership. "I look forward to supporting and working with him to achieve our mission.”
According to the nonprofit, it was founded in 2007 and serves 13,550 students across 20 of the most underserved schools in three Los Angeles communities. The Los Angeles Unified School District has a total student body of more than 565,000.
