County Board unanimously votes in Gundry as new superintendent

The Santa Clara County Board of Education unanimously voted Wednesday night to appoint Jon R. Gundry as the county’s new Superintendent of Schools, effective Aug. 1.
Gundry, who is currently the superintendent of the Pasadena Unified School District, was announced as the sole finalist for the county position in June. The Board’s vote made his appointment official. He replaces former Superintendent Xavier De La Torre, who resigned from the position to take a similar one at a local district in El Paso, Texas.
“The Board is pleased to welcome Superintendent Gundry to Santa Clara County and we are confident that he will provide the SCCOE and its staff with the vision and leadership necessary to guide the organization’s advocacy, ensure efficacy and continue to provide students, schools and districts with the best continuum of services possible,” Board President Leon Beauchman said.
Mary Ann Dewan, the Chief Schools Officer for the County Office of Education since Oct. 2013, served as the county’s interim superintendent during the search process which started in March, according to SCCOE staff.
Gundry has served as Pasadena Unified’s superintendent—a district of 18,000 students—since July 2011. He has more than three decades of experience as a teacher, principal and instructional leader, according to the July 17 press release from the SCCOE.
“It’s a great honor to be selected as the new Santa Clara County Superintendent of Schools and I look forward to engaging with the entire community—the SCCOE staff, teachers, district and charter school leaders, students, families and community leaders—as we work together to improve educational equity for every student that we serve,” Gundry said. “Ensuring that all children have access to high-quality instructional opportunities is at the core of the SCCOE’s mission and it is imperative that all of our students are provided with the support and tools necessary to reach their greatest potential.”
Gundry’s contract with the Board includes an annual salary of $295,000, according to SCCOE staff.
Prior to his tenure in Pasadena, Gundry served as deputy superintendent of the Los Angeles County Office of Education from 2008 to 2010. He was appointed LACOE’s interim superintendent in Sept. 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 more than 2 million children, with $16 billion in school district funding, according to the release.
Before joining LACOE, Gundry served in the Houston Independent School District beginning in 1982. He holds a bachelor’s degree in English and Spanish from Northern Arizona University and a master’s degree in Education Administration from Houston Baptist University. Fluent in Spanish, Gundry was a Fulbright Scholar and spent a year teaching in Nicosia, Cyprus.