New Superintendent Ready for Challenge

Trudy Arriaga’s downtown Ventura office is spilling over with two dozen bouquets. Her phone has been ringing almost nonstop for days.

And everywhere she goes--be it her old high school or the grocery store--people are congratulating her on her recent achievement: landing the top job in the Ventura Unified School District.

But Arriaga, 45, has been around enough to know that it won’t be long before the cloud she is walking on solidifies into a grindstone.

“I told my husband, ‘I wish I could just bottle up this day and when things get tough, open it up and take a big swig,’ ” said Arriaga, who will be Ventura’s first female superintendent in its 35-year history.

There are plenty of challenges ahead as Arriaga prepares to lead Ventura County’s third-largest school district. She will initially focus on three areas:

* Academic achievement, as measured by standardized test scores, dropout rates, attendance and student proficiency assessments.

* Students’ connection to their schools, and opportunities for extra-curricular involvement.

* School safety, primarily ensuring students, staff members and parents feel each campus is safe.

She credits retiring Supt. Joseph P. Spirito, who has held the post for eight years, with laying a good foundation. After taking time to listen, she said, she will establish a firm vision.

“It’s going to take focus, prioritizing what we’re doing and it’s going to take collaboration,” Arriaga said. “We as educators can do a good job. We as a community can do a great job.”

School board members say that inclusive approach is one of the main reasons they chose Arriaga over the other five finalists, all of whom had more administrative experience.

“She brings a real collaborative style in every way as a leader, and she empowers people she supervises,” said board President Debbie Golden. “Everyone I’ve spoken to who has worked for her told me what a wonderful experience that is.”

They gush about her gift for leadership, her empathetic nature and her ability to bring out the best in people. Many get emotional just talking about her.

“She’s one of those people who can get teachers and everyone enthusiastic, and when she walks into a school, everyone’s happy,” said Gloria Noble, who was assistant principal at Balboa Middle School for 21 years and first told Arriaga to set her sights on an administrative job.

“She was an excellent motivator,” said Liz Tallakson, principal of De Anza Middle School and a former teacher there when Arriaga was assistant principal. “She had a real recognition of diversity in the school and was able to meet the needs of all the students.”

Though she comes from a middle-class background, Arriaga understands how poverty affects education, said Steve Blum, outgoing president of the Ventura Unified Education Assn.

He said, simply: “She gets it.”

It’s difficult to find someone who would say anything negative about Arriaga, but she identifies her own weaknesses. She needs to better balance job and off-time, she said, pulling back from a tendency to immerse herself in work. She also may be perceived as overly sensitive, wearing her heart on her sleeve.

And, she said, some may question her lack of experience as a superintendent and her short time in the district office. But Arriaga is more than confident in her abilities.

“I think I know how to be a leader--however big or small the ship.”

That was clear on a recent afternoon at Pacific High School, the district’s continuation school, where Arriaga was once principal. Student after student stopped her in the hall, telling her of their new jobs, their latest adventures and their impending graduation. Arriaga created an innovative support services center at the school--paid for with a $400,000 grant.

“She made a real difference,” said student Jessica Sotelo 17, who just landed a permanent position at a local dental office. “I don’t know why she left.”

aga credits her family, particularly her father, Ventura High basketball coach Bob Tuttle, for teaching her to care about people. He died of a heart attack 17 years ago.

When she found out about her new job, Arriaga said, she went back to Ventura High School. She sat on the concrete bench outside the Bob Tuttle Gym and looked up at the painted image of her father, his bright blue eyes twinkling down at her.

“Hey dad,” she said. “Check me out!”