After seven somewhat contentious years at the head of the Lucia Mar Unified School District, Superintendent Jim Hogeboom announced plans to move on to another district.
He’s likely leaving for a superintendent position with Novato Unified School District in the Bay Area.
In a statement to district staff, Hogeboom said that he and his wife have long considered moving back to Marin County, where Hogeboom previously worked as an assistant principal for Novato.
“I think seven years has provided some stability for the district. There’s a time to go, too. I think for the time I’ve been here, I’ve done most of what I can do. I think a change of leadership is a good thing,” he said.
Lucia Mar is the largest school district in San Luis Obispo County, with 19 schools spanning from Shell Beach to the Santa Maria River. Hogeboom arrived on the scene in 2008 to fill the hole left by former Superintendent Deborah Flores.
Hogeboom counts among his accomplishments at Lucia Mar the pioneering of several 21st century educational initiatives—the international baccalaureate program, a Mandarin immersion program, a solar power project, and Central Coast New Tech High School. These programs were implemented while California schools were still reeling from the great recession.
He was, at the beginning and the end, an embattled figure. The first part of his tenure was marked by a rash of pink slips as Lucia Mar cut $10 million over three years while the economy violently contracted. In 2014, he took some heat over the perceived demotion of beloved Nipomo High School Principal Michelle Johnson.
Hogeboom spent the 2014-2015 school year slogging through a protracted fight with Lucia Mar’s teachers, who wanted a 10 percent raise from the post-recession state funding restored to the district. The district held firm with a 2 percent offer and fought the union through the beginning of April. A last-second compromise of 6 percent averted a districtwide strike.
Teachers signaled their dissatisfaction with the offer by narrowly approving the deal on April 16.
If approved by the Novato district’s school board, Hogeboom will start his new job on July 1, and Lucia Mar will start the search for a superintendent to replace him.
This article appears in May 7-14, 2015.