School District Superintendent to Retire

Hermosa Beach City School District Superintendent Bruce Newlin has announced that he plans to return to retirement at the end of the year.

Newlin, a former educator, agreed in 2008 to leave retirement to serve as superintendent of the district, which includes both Hermosa View and Valley schools.

"I did so with a plan to be here for three years and that hopefully and the state could be overcome during that time," he said during a Hermosa Beach School Board meeting Wednesday.

"I don’t see that happening in the short or even midrange future, and it is not my goal to become the oldest sitting superintendent in the United States," said Newlin, who has more than 25 years of experience as a superintendent and prior he was a professor at UCLA. "I feel I have contributed all that I can at this point in my career."

Under Newlin's guidance, the local school district has been studying the future and sustainability of Hermosa Beach's public schools.

"We are in such a 'red ink' situation right now that we need to begin to think differently about sustainability. We need to think about educational sustainability," Newlin said.

He has proposed that the district consider change for the future—"stop worrying so much about the inputs and what a school has to look like, and instead focus on outcomes," he said.

As a former professor, Newlin said that some schools of education are still training teachers with traditional models, "for jobs that won't exist for much longer." He has called it "a big problem."

"I see the role of teachers being very different in the future. Some will be great mentors and motivators while others are great content experts," he said. "I don’t see schools looking the same in 20 years," or sooner.

The School Board on Wednesday thanked Newlin for serving Hermosa's schools. Newlin's resignation will be effective Dec. 31.