PaliHi Principal Linda Hosford Reflects on Past and Future

‘Decompress, that’s the plan,’ says retiring Palisades High School Principal Linda Hosford, who in the last three years shepherded the school through its transition from being a charter school to becoming fiscally independent. ‘I want to take care of all the things I should have been doing for the last three years, my health, my house,’ she told the Palisadian-Post the day after graduation. The 40-year Los Angeles Unified School District veteran was hired as assistant principal in August 1990 and assumed the principal’s job in July 2001, after Don Savarese retired. After successfully guiding PaliHi through the arduous and contentious path to fiscal independence during the 2002-2003 school year, Hosford still maintains that the highlight of her career was ‘that day, May 13, when we finally had the vote to become fiscally independent from LAUSD. I don’t think it could get any better than that.’ However, Hosford admits it was a short celebration because there were still so many uncertainties. ‘We had to literally organize our own business by July 1. A lot had to be put in place and required a lot of work. It was frightening to some people,’ she said, referring to transition issues involving retirement benefits and salaries. But throughout the process, Hosford was most proud of ‘remaining student focused, no matter if other stakeholders might have thought it should not have been my top priority. In the end there is no way to please everybody all the time.’ While she recused herself from the process to select her successor, Hosford made some recommendations concerning the scope of the job of running what has essentially become a business with 2,560 students and a $16.8 million operating budget. ‘My advice was to divide this position into an academic principal and an executive director, who would be more involved with the business and political side of what needs to be done, especially with the charter renewal next year,’ Hosford said. The search committee, under the direction of Jack Sutton and other stakeholders’staff, parents and administrators’paper-screened a number of candidates for the principal’s position. Four candidates, all Los Angeles residents, were selected for individual interviews with the committee, which took place last week. The board of governors is still weighing the question of dividing the job. Six weeks ago, the board selected Greg Wood as chief business officer in charge of the preparation and monitoring of the school’s budget. A former Ex-Ed (Excellent Education Development) consultant, Wood is an expert in helping charter schools transition from a school into a ‘school district,’ with the budget, taxes, insurance and payrolls to manage. Hosford, who handled the academic and financial duties as executive director of the school, applauded the board’s choice of Wood. ‘He’s very sound with his judgment and creative in advising the board.’ Although Hosford will be away from the Palisades, she plans to stay quite connected. ‘I bid on a two-year subscription to the Palisadian-Post at our Casino Night so I’ll stay up with all the news.’