On July 1, Matt Beecher started serving as Santa Maria-Bonita School District’s interim superintendent. He will lead the district while the district’s Board of Education continues the search for a new superintendent to replace Phil Alvarado, who retired at the end of the school year.
Alvarado took a bow after 38 years with the district as a teacher, principal, and superintendent.
Beecher’s worked for the district for more than 10 years, and for almost nine of those years, he served as the district’s chief business officer (assistant superintendent for business). According to statement on the district’s website, Beecher was instrumental in leading the district through a successful school construction bond campaign (Measure M) in the fall of 2014.
“He ably guided the district through several years of significant budget challenges when the state of California experienced rough economic times. During that time, SMBSD avoided laying off employees, even when surrounding districts had to take that step in order to stay fiscally solvent,” the statement said, also crediting him for helping guide the planning and construction of the district’s 20th school, which will open in August.
He attended Cal Poly SLO, graduating with a bachelor’s in business administration specializing in accounting. He also has his CPA license. Before moving into the world of school finance, he spent six years in public accounting and five years working for a publicly traded company
This article appears in Jul 9-16, 2015.
