Board Names Arriaga to Lead Ventura Schools

Trudy Arriaga, a longtime Ventura educator known for her leadership skills and her ability to rejuvenate struggling schools, has been named superintendent of the Ventura Unified School District.

“This is a new day for Ventura Unified,” said school board President Debbie Golden, confirming that the board had unanimously chosen Arriaga, the district director of support services, after interviewing her and five other candidates over the weekend. The announcement, at a news conference Tuesday night, was greeted by loud cheers from more than two dozen supporters.

“It is my greatest honor to lead the district that raised me from childhood,” said Arriaga, who was in Ventura High School’s class of 1973.

Arriaga, 45, will be the first woman to hold the top job since the district unified in 1966. She will replace Joseph Spirito, 66, who will retire June 30 after eight years as superintendent of the 15,350-student district.

The position pays about $130,000 a year, though specifics of Arriaga’s contract have yet to be finalized, Golden said.

Arriaga, who is fluent in Spanish and American Sign Language, made her mark in the district during nine years as principal of Sheridan Way Elementary School on the city’s west side.

Because of an aggressive grant-writing campaign led by Arriaga, the school, considered the poorest in the district, received more than $1 million to launch programs addressing everything from family health care to joblessness in the neighborhood.

In 1995, the state awarded the school a $400,000 Healthy Start grant, enabling Arriaga to create a free medical clinic, a mental health counseling program and parenting classes.

“I deal with a lot of residents out here, and I have yet to meet one person who has said anything negative about Trudy Arriaga,” said Margaret Merryman, chairwoman of the Westside Community Council. “Everybody just adored her.”

When Arriaga became principal of Pacific and El Camino continuation high schools in late 1998, morale among teachers at the schools was low, mostly because of lack of direction and leadership, Assistant Principal Beverly McCaslin said.

“She came in, and within a few months people were willing to put in extra efforts,” McCaslin said.

Arriaga spearheaded the acquisition of a second Healthy Start grant, and that $400,000 was used to build a health center that opened this year, McCaslin said.

“I just feel legions of people would follow her,” she said. “She has a special gift to make people want to do their very best. She’s very empowering.”

Arriaga, a Ventura native, comes from a family of leaders. Her older brother, Gary Tuttle, was an eight-year Ventura city councilman and world-class runner. Her father, Bob Tuttle, was a basketball coach for decades at Ventura High, where a gym is named after him.

“What my father taught me was integrity and leadership. And he did it by example,” Arriaga said. “If I can lead by example, I will have served my father well.”

Golden said Arriaga’s background and her fresh, collaborative style is just what the district needs.

The issues facing her range from overseeing teacher contract negotiations to meeting the state’s rigorous accountability demands in the classroom.

“I have every reason to believe she will meet those standards and more with her leadership,” Golden said.

Arriaga never made a secret of her ambition to be superintendent of the district, where she started as a teacher’s aide and worked her way up the administrative ladder, McCaslin said.

“She has a vision,” she said, “and she’s prepared her whole life for this.”