School District Sees Changes in Leadership

As the Hermosa Beach city school board said farewell to president Cathy McCurdy, it also welcomed two new officials to the school district in a meeting Wednesday night.

The meeting marked McCurdy's last on the panel, but she said she plans to remain active in the schools as a community member. McCurdy was selected as a Patch "" in September.

The board meeting also marked Dr. Alan Rasmussen's return to Hermosa Beach as interim superintendent in replacing current Superintendent Bruce Newlin, who in July at the end of the year. Rasmussen was once a part of the school district in 1996.

The school board interviewed three candidates for the interim superintendent position, McCurdy said, and "this gentleman was unanimously approved."

"It’s quite an honor to come back to Hermosa," Rasmussen said during the board meeting. "Coming back out of retirement for this short period and finishing in Hermosa Beach is really special, so thank you very much."

The school board meeting also marked the start of a new term for incumbent Lisa Claypoole and Hermosa Beach teacher Patti Ackerman, who each took their oaths of office as board members.

Jack Burns took his seat as the new board president.

Before all of the formalities of the evening began, Newlin had one last message for the board.

It was a pleasure working with the community, parents and teachers, he said, adding that "recently we spent a lot of time looking at where the schools of Hermosa Beach are going economically… we need to continue our efforts in this direction, but we also need to spend the same effort looking at where schools are going educationally."

In the accompanying video, watch McCurdy review programs and achievements in the school district's , which was held in November.