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Youngsters Play ‘Superintendent for the Day’

From staff report

COMPTON – Ten-year-olds Ricardo Garcia and Tresjon Thenarse and Abraham Sandoval, age 6, all students at Compton Unified’s Carver Elementary School, have the same wish.

Last May, each one declared, “Someday, I want to be superintendent of the Compton Unified School District.”

And a month later, on Thursday, June 5,—for half a day— their dreams came true.

Kaye Burnside, Ed.D., superintendent, Compton Unified School District (CUSD), invited the young boys to get a first-hand look at a day in the life of a school district superintendent.

“I couldn’t resist,” explained Burnside. “When I read in the Los Angeles Times that these young boys were adamant about becoming superintendents of Compton Unified, I had to invite them to take a closer look at exactly what I do.”

Burnside was referring to a May 3rd Los Angeles Times article about the boys’ school-sponsored dining experience at Lawry’s The Prime Rib restaurant in Beverly Hills. In that article, Garcia was quoted as saying that he wanted to be superintendent of the school district.

“I was really surprised when I heard we were going to visit Dr. Burnside,” said Garcia. “But I had no idea what was going to happen.”

“We gave these aspiring superintendents a VIP tour of the school district,” said Burnside. The special day began when Burnside personally picked up the snappily dressed trio at their elementary school and rushed them over to a very important English Language Learner Advisory Committee (ELAC) meeting. Once there, the boys got a chance to make introductions and seized the opportunity to refer to themselves as “Dr. Garcia,” “Superintendent Thenarse” and “Dr. Sandoval.” Thirty adults at the meeting instantly smiled.
Next, Burnside drove the students to CUSD’s administrative building, 501 S. Santa Fe Ave., otherwise known as the CUSD Education Center. There, Garcia, Thenarse and Sandoval gathered in Burnside’s executive office, where they took turns sitting behind her desk and assumed their newly acquired authority.

None of the young men shied away from the day’s workload, which included reviewing, approving and signing the agenda for the next CUSD board meeting. Because the job of a superintendent can often be demanding, all four took a much needed break and munched on black licorice jelly beans, one of Burnside’s favorite snacks.

The break, however, was brief. Burnside and her young colleagues soon moved to the CUSD Board Room, where the district’s Board of Trustees meets twice a month. At last, Garcia, Thenarse and Sandoval felt the power of the gavel as each sat behind the dais in massive burgundy-colored, leather upholstered executive chairs.

As he’d imagined so vividly, Garcia cushioned himself in the superintendent’s chair, took the gavel in his hand, and in his most stately 10-year-old voice announced, “The meeting is called to order!” Then, with all the authority Garcia could muster, and as Thenarse and Sandoval looked on, like distinguished little colleagues, Superintendent Garcia promptly pounded the gavel on the tabletop. Following this mock mini-meeting, the three, accompanied by Burnside, continued on their tour, which included visits to the district’s Information Technology Depart-ment, the Emergency Operation Center and the School Police Department, which provided the students with gift packages and a ride in a CUSD school police car.

That afternoon, when the tour was over, Burnside and her aspiring superintendents agreed they’d all put in a hard half-day’s work. Burnside shook hands with the young gentlemen, who thanked her. Before departing, however, the trio promised Burnside it wouldn’t be the last time they’d see her because, as they put it, “Now, we have lots of ideas about how to run Compton Unified.”