Superintendent Lockhart Announces Changes

Before the 2019-2020 school year begins, CCUSD Superintendent Leslie Lockhart has announced the following changes within the district:

The Department of School and Family Support Services (SFSS) will expand its services, adding a coordinator position in order to boost district-wide support for CCUSD's Whole Child Initiative. With the California School Accountability Dashboard system focusing on annual academic, social-emotional and behavioral growth, this expansion will allow the district to focus its efforts on students in need through coordinated outreach and services as well as alternative education opportunities, which include Culver Park, iAcademy and Culver City Adult School.

Veronica Montes, who is currently principal of Culver Park/iAcademy/Culver City Adult School, will move into the director role of School and Family Support Services. She is replacing long-time director of the department, Drew Sotelo, who is retiring in August after 16 years of service.

Dr. Kim Indelicato, currently principal of Linwood E. Howe Elementary, will fill a new position as Coordinator of the School and Family Support Services department. Assistant Principal Ruth Morris will stay on at Culver Park/iAcademy/Culver City Adult School to support the students on site.

Montes has been with Culver Park/iAcademy/Culver City Adult School for seven years. During that time, she led the implementation of new curriculum and instructional strategies, expanded arts programming, added intervention specialists to address student emotional wellbeing, added special education support, and earned WASC accreditation for Culver City Adult School.

"I truly believe that with the right support systems, success is possible for everybody," said Montes. "In my new role, I am even more committed to mitigating the challenges and barriers that interfere with that success."

Dr. Indelicato is a 20-year veteran of CCUSD. She served 13 years at the secondary level, with six years as assistant principal for Culver City High School. During her recent seven-year tenure at Linwood Howe Elementary, Dr. Indelicato led the school to achieve Gold Ribbon status.

"While I am sad to leave my beloved Lin Howe community, I am excited about being able to support the entire CCUSD community through my new role at the district," she said.

Additional district-wide changes include bringing on Diana Fannon, Ed.,D., as Director of Special Education. Formerly with LAUSD, Dr. Fannon has been an elementary school teacher, a bilingual school psychologist, psychological services administrator, and most recently, was coordinator within LAUSD's Informal Dispute Resolution department. In her most recent role, Dr. Fannon worked to facilitate fair and impartial early resolution of concerns or conflicts surrounding disputes with special education issues. She received her bachelor's degree in psychology from Yale University, her master's in school psychology from National University, and her doctorate in organizational leadership from Pepperdine University.

Chris Cole, previously a program specialist in the special education department, will move into the role of Special Education Coordinator.

"As a district, we take great pride in retaining much of our talent by promoting from within," said Superintendent Lockhart. "Many of our site leaders have moved into district-wide positions over the years, demonstrating their continued investment in CCUSD."

The district has already begun interviewing for the new principals of both Lin Howe and El Rincon Elementary. El Rincon's Principal Dr. Cassandra Ziskind left CCUSD at the end of June to take a job closer to her home.