By Katie Lulla
Contributing Writer
The Manhattan Beach Unified School Ditrict appointed Dr. Suzanne Webb as the Assistant Superintendent of Human Re- sources, and on Dec. 1 she began her new position.
Webb replaced Dr. Brian Lucas, who is now the assistant superintendent of human resources at Lynwood Unified School District. Webb previously worked in the Santa Monica-Malibu School District for 23 years.
“Dr. Webb has a unique combination of four years of HR experience and school leadership experience,” said Superintendent Dr. Mike Matthews. “[She] will be a strong member of our team.”
Webb began her administrative career as the program facilitator in educational services. She then took on positions, inlcuding dis- trict coordinator for new teachers and principal of Lincoln Middle School in Santa Monica. In her last four years, she served as the director of human resources.
“I feel that I am ready to move up to the next level, especially because I have experience being a principal and assistant principal and understand master scheduling and staffing,” Webb said. “Being a part of a site leadership team has allowed me the privilege of understanding how important our work is.”
From the beginning of her career, Webb has worked for the well-being of students and staff, she said. Her dissertation for her doctoral degree was based on resilience and coping methods used to reduce stress.
In her research, she has found the work-life balance needed to support a social-emotional mindset, which aligns with goals the district has been working on for the past several years.
“I look forward to building upon the work that MBUSD has done around social-emotional intelligence,” Webb said. “I’m passionate about excellence through equity and helping others meet their greatest potential.”
According to Webb, the district should get to know each individual staff member and student to understand their strengths as well as areas of needed growth so that they can best support those efforts. Her main focus has been to provide training and support to administrators to best meet the needs of students and staff, she said.
“As Human Resources, I am most supportive to staff,” Webb said. “How I respond to the needs and requests of our staff will allow them to best serve our students.”
In addition to being the direc- tor of human resources, Webb has also served as a Tier II adminis- trative credential coach for the University of California, Irvine, and her instruction also extends to other universities. She helped site administrators create goals to best support their students, teachers and communities.
She also co-taught a course to administrators with Dr. Irene Gonzalez-Castillo, who is the new assistant superintendent of Student Services for MBUSD. The course studied ways in which leaders can support a “growth mindset” to improve organizations.
“We had some upstanding candidates for the job, but Dr. Webb emerged as the clear candidate,” Matthews said.
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