Former Malibu principal named new superintendent
Santa Monica-Malibu Unified School District Assistant Superintendent Dr. Michael Matthews starts as Manhattan Beach Unified School District’s Superintendent in July. Photo courtesy of MBUSD
by Andrea Ruse
Dr. Michael Matthews, currently the Assistant Superintendent, Human Resources of Santa Monica-Malibu Unified School District, will take over the reins of Manhattan Beach Unified School District on July 1. Board President Ida VanderPoorte announced Matthews selection at a special Board of Trustees meeting Tuesday night.
The transition will mark the end of Superintendent Bev Rohrer’s four-year run with the district and her retirement from a 50- year-plus career in education that began at Mira Costa High School.
“I’m thrilled to be here and to be your selection,” Matthews told a nearly full room at the district office. “I was attracted to you because I think I fit your description well. I was also attracted to you because this is a place of extraordinary achievement.”
The board will officially approve Matthews’ designation as MBUSD superintendent at the regular May 5 meeting.
“I think I speak for all of us when I say, ‘Welcome,’” VanderPoorte said.
Matthews underwent a two-month application process, which was aided by Superintendent Search Consultant Janet Schwabe, who said applicants included educators from around the country.
“Dr. Matthews is an excellent match for our district,” VanderPoorte said in a prepared statement. “His answers to our interview questions were centered on what is good for students. His personal qualities and experience as a teacher, administrator and senior cabinet member match what we as a Board and community are seeking.”
On Tuesday before the meeting, Matthews met with members of the education community, including district office personnel, PTA groups, Manhattan Beach Education Foundation, Manhattan Beach Athletic Foundation and district principals.
“It was a chance for them to get to know who I am,” Matthews said.
Matthews is originally from Little Rock, Arkansas. In 1980, he moved to California to attend Stanford with dreams of becoming an attorney.
“I was pretty sure my future was in law,” he said. “I had my eyes opened in college and thought that education was what I wanted to do in life. I changed my junior year to education and never looked back. I’ve never regretted it.”
Matthews graduated from Stanford in 1984 with a B.A. in International Relations and received an M.A. in Education from the university the following year. He went on to earn an Administrative Services credential from U.C. Berkeley in 1990 and an Ed.D. in Educational Management from Pepperdine University in 2001.
In 1985, Matthews began his teaching career at San Lorenzo High School, where he taught world and U.S. history, social studies, government, economics and Asian studies. In 1990, he started as Assistant Principal at Lodi High School and two years later was hired as the principal at Delta Sierra Middle School in Stockton.
In 1993, Matthews became the first principal of the newly-formed Malibu High School, where he oversaw its transformation from a grade 6-9 school to a grade 6-12 school. In 2004 it was named a California Distinguished High School. During Matthews’ tenure, MHS ranked in the top 10 percent of the state’s schools and API scores improved every year. Matthews has also taught as an adjunct professor at California State University Northridge.
In 2004, Matthews was promoted to Assistant Superintendent, Human Resources of SMMSD, a 17-school district where he is responsible for overseeing 1,500 district staff. In 2006, he served as Interim Superintendent until the permanent position was filled the following year.
In Manhattan Beach, Matthews will head a district that manages eight schools and co-manages the South Bay Adult School with Redondo Beach Unified School District.
During his 25 year career in education, Matthews said he has become familiar with education’s ups and downs, especially when it comes to funding.
“Education goes through booms and busts,” Matthews said in an interview. “The extra money for class size reduction a few years ago, for example, was a boom to schools and critical for elementary school kids.”
“Right now education is under fire,” he said, “Yet you in Manhattan Beach — we, in Manhattan Beach — have found a way to make it work,” he told the school board, pointing to a $4.1 million donation by MBEF last month. “You’ve taken your cuts and lumps far less than others in the state. I’m proud to be a part of that.”
Still, Matthews said that meeting the demands of the State Board of Education in the face of continual budget cuts can be a tough balancing act, even in affluent communities.
“Never before have finances been so difficult with the state and at the same time more accountability demanded from schools,” he said in an interview. “It provides a double challenge to meet that accountability, when there is a crisis keeping you from doing that.”
Matthews will follow in the footsteps of Superintendent Bev Rohrer, who began serving as MBUSD’s Interim Superintendent in 2006. In 2007, the board asked Rohrer to fill the position permanently and she extended her contract with the district to June 30 of this year.
Coming from a district encompassing two affluent areas, Matthews said he is up for the challenge of working for a community that is highly involved in education and has equally high expectations of its school district.
“One of the reasons the board considered me a very strong candidate is that I do have experience with a very involved community,” Matthews said. “There’s a great benefit to a community involved in child education. That’s a blessing.”
“It’s about using what you have more efficiently,” he added. “I’m not going to come in with my own new way of doing things. The first thing I need to learn is what’s working well and you can usually expand on those ideas at a relatively lower cost.”
Matthews lives in Malibu with his wife Jill, a SMMUSD teacher. The couple has two children — a first-grader and a college student.
The family is considering moving to the South Bay.
“We don’t know,” Matthews said. “We are evaluating that and all possibilities.” ER