EUSD's Incoming Superintendent
Last week, EUSD named Andy McGuire as the incoming Superintendent. On Tuesday, they will vote to approve his new contracts.
Rumors were confirmed at the school board meeting last week, when Escondido Union School District (EUSD) board president, Doug Paulson, announced that the board was going to appoint Andy McGuire as the incoming Superintendent for the district.
The board is pleased to report that following careful consideration we intend to move forward with the appointment of Andy McGuire as the incoming Superintendent of the Escondido Union School District. His contract will be presented for approval at our next regularly scheduled board meeting on Tuesday June 24th.
If approved, Mr. McGuire will begin a year-long transition alongside Superintendent Luis Rankins-Ibarra, formally stepping into the role on July 1, 2026. This planned transition year provides the strategic opportunity for the district for intentional leadership development, continuity of initiative and the thoughtful handoff that honors the work already underway. It also reflects the board’s commitment to stability, long-term planning and ensuring our students, staff and community remain supported throughout this process.
Andy McGuire brings 4 years of dedicated service as Assistant Superintendent of Business Services. His collaborative leadership focused on student-centered operations, and strong relationships across departments, have positioned him well to lead EUSD into the future. His integrity, fiscal responsibility and clear communication have earned widespread trust throughout our district.
-Doug Paulson on behalf of the EUSD board
June 17, 2025
This was the first public statement by the board on their plans to hire a new Superintendent following the announcement by Dr. Rankins-Ibarra in April of his plans to retire at the end of the 2025-2026 school year.
Communication with families
In an email to families the following day, the board reiterated their talking points of continuity and a “smooth transition”. The board described Mr. McGuire in their email as having “more than 17 years in K–12 education”. However, they failed to mention that Mr. McGuire lacks teaching and school administration credentials and has never served at a school site as a teacher or administrator, a requirement that they will need to waive in order to appoint him as the next Superintendent.
The board also notes “As a parent of three school-aged children, he is personally invested in the success of our schools”, however it is not clear how this is relevant to his position since he is not a resident of Escondido and his children do not attend EUSD schools.
Their email went on to say that:
Beginning this Fall, Mr. McGuire will start visiting schools and hosting meet-and-greet sessions with staff, students, parents, and local partners. He will also lead a listening tour to gather feedback that will help guide strategic priorities for the future.
- Email from EUSD Board President
June 18, 2025
So while the board did not seek input from these stakeholders before making their decision, they are directing Mr. McGuire to seek their input after the fact.
Feedback from staff
District staff are represented at school board meetings by the leaders of their unions. Teachers, also called certificated staff because they hold teaching certificates, are represented by Escondido Elementary Educators Association (EEEA, pronounced “Triple E A”). Non-teaching staff, called classified staff, are represented by Chapter 150 of the California School Employees Association (CSEA). Both groups are given time to speak at board meetings, usually right after public comment.
Leadership from both groups expressed concerns at the May 22nd meeting about feeling left out of the hiring process, the lack of transparency, and about rumors that the board had already selected the next Superintendent. After these rumors were confirmed on June 17th, leaders from both unions spoke once again.
The President of CSEA Chapter 150 addressed issues of transparency, collaboration and trust. While making it clear she did not take issue with the choice of Mr. McGuire as incoming Superintendent, she cited concerns about the process.
The selection of a Superintendent is not just an administrative task. It is a moral and strategic commitment to the values we hold as a district - values of equity, excellence, collaboration and student-centered decision making. And yet, the process thus far has felt troublingly opaque. When decisions are made behind closed doors, when voices from the classroom, sites and departments are not actively invited into the conversation, the message that is sent is not neutrality, it’s not efficiency, it’s indifference. And indifference, whether intentional or not, is a form of harm. Lack of transparency erodes trust.
[…]
This moment is not just about hiring a Superintendent, it is about choosing what kind of district we want to be. Do we want to be the district that values collaboration, voices from the ground and shared vision? Or do we want to be adrift further from those ideals in the name of expediency? We urge you, our board, to lead with integrity, openness and courage. Include us, hear us, work with us and together we will build a stronger, more equitable future for every student we serve.
- President of CSEA Chapter 150
June 17, 2025
The President of EEEA, Brandi Krepps, cited concerns among certificated staff around the lack of transparency and collaboration as well, and also around the qualifications for the position. While the board can waive the required teaching and school administration credentials, Ms. Krepps noted why this experience is important to the chief administrator of the district.
As a mentor and a support system for our site administrators, our Superintendent should have experience to guide our site admin in a direction that supports them with their leadership challenges. A person who sits in the Superintendent’s seat should be able to understand what our site administrators need and properly onboard them when they are newly hired to their respective positions.
- President of EEEA
June 17, 2025
Although the board did not request their input, EEEA put out a survey to their members regarding what they wanted to see in their next Superintendent and shared the results with the board. Of the 456 EUSD employees who responded, 35% were also residents of Escondido.
91% said the new Superintendent should have 10 years or more of teaching experience.
Nearly 75% said they should hold an administrative credential and have experience in school site leadership as required by California Ed Code.
Less than 1% said that no experience in education was necessary.
Over 60% said they wanted a search to be done.
In expressing her frustration with the process, Ms. Krepps cited the board’s own governance handbook several times.
We have a shifting of principals and a lot of cabinet leadership changes. This is not the time to rush to this decision. The secrecy and lack of transparency do not promote a climate of trust in our district. While certificated and classified staff have asked for a search to be done to find the best qualified person to run the district, we want to understand why you are rushing to make this important decision.
In your own board governance handbook, the mission of the district is as follows: “The Escondido Union School District, in partnership with our children, employees, parents, and community members, is committed to universal student achievement.”
Partnership with the community seems to have been lost here.
In that same handbook, you have 4 focus goals, one of which states “Positive culture and diversity: Continue to build a collaborative culture which promotes creativity, responsibility, and trust among all stakeholders, where diversity and equity are valued.”
Trust among stakeholders has been broken when you hide your plans from stakeholders you are sworn to represent.
I don’t take my position as an elected leader lightly, and nor should you.
And finally, from the handbook: “School Board trustees are the representatives of the people, elected to ensure the district schools educate the children in consideration of the interests of the local community.”
The role of the school board is to govern the school district and your responsibility is to do the right thing for the people you represent.
So please don’t do what’s easy, do what’s right.
- President of EEEA
June 17, 2025
Transparency
From the comments given by certificated and classified leadership, it seems clear that they were not part of the conversation surrounding the plan to hire Mr. McGuire as the new Superintendent without performing a search. So it begs the question: who did the board rely on in evaluating Mr. McGuire’s “collaborative leadership” cited in their email to families, if not our stakeholders on the front lines?
According to an article in the San Diego Union-Tribune at the time, when the board hired Dr. Luis Rankins-Ibarra away from Oceanside Unified School District in 2014, “A team from Escondido visited the Oceanside district June 18 to meet with board members, administrators, teacher and classified association members, parents, principals and executive assistants.”
Not only did the board choose not to do a search as they did when they hired Dr. Rankins-Ibarra, they did not involve the breadth of stakeholders most familiar with Mr. McGuire in his current position within the district as they did when considering his predecessor in 2014.
As a parent, it is unclear to me why a board whose members have consistently cited concerns over academic achievement in our district, including Ms. Gardner’s comments about math test scores at the June 17th meeting, would choose to hire someone who isn’t an educator as the chief administrator of our schools. The email sent to families did not address the fact that the board would be waiving the credential requirements for the position, let alone why they have chosen to do so rather than performing a search to ensure they indeed have chosen the most qualified candidate.
In recent weeks, I’ve spoken with several parents off the record, and they echo the concerns from staff regarding the credential requirements of a Superintendent and concerns especially around the lack of transparency in the process of the board’s selection. Hiring a Superintendent is the most important job of the school board and failing to do a search for candidates makes some parents wonder if the board is doing their job.
What’s next
In failing to include the community in their decision to hire a non-credentialed leader as the next Superintendent, without doing a search, the board has damaged the trust of all stakeholders in the district, from staff, to families and members of the community at large. Unfortunately, their lack of transparency ultimately leaves Mr. McGuire with the task of earning back the trust of the community as well. Hopefully the planned sessions between him and district stakeholders at all levels will help begin to repair that trust.
In the meantime, the board owes the community answers to help everyone understand their process and decision making. Why were community members excluded from this process? Why was the community unaware they were choosing a new Superintendent prior to any public announcement about the steps they were taking? Whose input did they rely on when evaluating Mr. McGuire for this new leadership role? Why have they chosen to waive all credential requirements without interviewing other candidates?
At the board meeting on June 24, 2025, there are 3 related agenda items that the board will be voting on, items M6-M8.
M6 is the resolution the board must adopt to recognize that they are waiving the Administrative and Teaching Credentials required by California Ed Code.
M7 is the amendment to Mr. McGuire’s current contract (which was set to run through 2027), giving him a $26,260 raise as he begins his year-long transition phase of shadowing the current Superintendent while continuing his other duties.
M8 is the contract for his role as Superintendent which will begin July 1, 2026 and is a 3-year contract with a starting base salary of $260,000.
All related documents can be found attached to the meeting agenda.
Contacting the board
If you would like to contact the board regarding the Superintendent hiring process (or any other matter within their jurisdiction), there are two main ways to contact the board:
Attend the school board meeting on June 24, 2025 at 7:00pm at the district office (2310 Aldergrove Ave., Escondido, CA 92029) and share your feedback during the public comment portion of the meeting, which is thankfully near the beginning of the agenda. You will need to fill out a comment card before the start of the meeting in order to be called up to speak.
Email board members with your comments ahead of the board meeting.
Doug Paulson - dpaulson@eusd.org
Zesty Harper - zharper@eusd.org
Mark Olson - molson@eusd.org
Frank Huston - fhuston@eusd.org
Joan Gardner - jgardner@eusd.org
Whenever you contact the board, it is always a good idea to state who you are in relationship to the district, such as a parent, student, staff member, or other Escondido resident, before sharing your comments.