Gundry named finalist for county supe vacancy

Jon R. Gundry will be the next superintendent for the Santa Clara County Office of Education, once the county board votes him in as expected at its July 16 school board meeting.
Gundry, the current superintendent of the Pasadena Unified School District, was announced as the lone finalist in the SCCOE’s June 24 press release. The board is in the process of negotiating an employment contract with Gundry, who is expected to start his tenure Aug. 1. He will replace former superintendent Xavier De La Torre, who resigned from the position to take a similar one at a local district in El Paso, Texas.
“We are very excited to have Superintendent Gundry join us in Santa Clara County,” Board President Leon Beauchman said. “Jon’s collaborative and thoughtful management style is well-suited to serve the County Office staff, local districts and the community at large.”
The announcement comes after Beauchman and trustees Grace Mah and Joseph DiSalvo recently conducted a site visit with Gundry and members of his staff, board and community leaders.
“The Board was also impressed with his ability to address the challenges of an ethnically diverse community and his focus on ensuring that all students are acquiring the essential 21st century skills needed to succeed in school and in college.”
Gundry has served as Superintendent of Pasadena Unified, a district of 18,000 students, since he was appointed by the Board of Education in July 2011. He has over three decades of experience as a teacher, principal and instructional leader.
“I am honored to be selected for this position and to join the team at the Santa Clara County Office of Education,” Gundry said. “The Board and the office have undertaken the most important work there is and this is to meet the needs of our most at-risk students, and to hold the highest expectations of all our districts and schools in serving students well.”
Before his tenure with Pasadena Unified, Gundry served as Deputy Superintendent of the Los Angeles County Office of Education (LACOE) from 2008 to 2010. Gundry was appointed Interim Superintendent of LACOE in September 2010. As Chief Executive Officer for LACOE and Secretary of the County Board of Education, he was responsible for the financial and academic success of 80 school districts serving over two million children, with $16 billion in school district funding.
Prior to joining LACOE, Gundry served in the Houston Independent School District beginning in 1982. He has a Bachelor’s Degree in English and Spanish from Northern Arizona University and a Master’s Degree in Education Administration from Houston Baptist University.