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Las Lomitas Elementary School District Superintendent Beth Polito announced she will be retiring at the end of the 2024-25 school year. Her five-year tenure as superintendent of LLESD will end on Aug. 30, 2025, according to a district announcement on Wednesday, Oct. 16, obtained by The Almanac.
The announcement comes in the midst of a contentious contract negotiation process between LLESD educators and the district. Over 800 community members signed a Change.org petition expressing that they have no confidence in Polito’s leadership.
Prior to working at LLESD, Polito served as the superintendent of the Woodside Elementary School District for eight years and carries 31 years of experience in education. At LLESD, Polito received $383,021 in total compensation annually.
In June 2023, Polito went on medical leave when she was diagnosed with leukemia. After receiving a bone marrow transplant and going through recovery, she returned to the district in January 2024.
“Just a few days ago, I reached the one-year anniversary of my bone-marrow transplant. I’m cancer free and feeling really strong,” Polito said in the announcement. “I can safely spend as much time as I want on campus, so expect to see much more of me as I work with staff, students and the community to manage our current circumstances and complete the work of the strategic plan in its fifth year.”
Polito states that she intended to retire at the end of the 2023-24 school year, but was “waylaid” by her leukemia diagnosis and wanted to have an opportunity to spend more time working on campus.
She told The Almanac that she had always planned on retiring when she turned 55 and that her mother died of cancer at 56 years old. “I think life’s too short and I’ve been working hard since I was 11 and it’s time to concentrate on other things,” she said.
Polito shared her retirement plans with school board President Heather Hopkins over the summer and the rest of the board in September. The school board will be taking the time to recruit and onboard a new superintendent before next school year.
“I think there’s a bit of a shelf life when you’re superintendent and I think I will be hitting mine in August,” she said.
For the incoming superintendent, Polito said they will need “thick skin” along with a love of kids, strong communication skills, and a working knowledge of budget, facilities, student services and more.
“The board is grateful to Dr. Polito for her over five years of service to the Las Lomitas Elementary School District and her lifetime dedication to students and their education,” said Hopkins in a statement to The Almanac.
Polito felt that the timing of her announcement would allow the board to have ample time to determine how they will fill her position. Her end date of Aug. 30, 2025 will allow two months of overlap where she can work with the incoming superintendent during the transition, she explained.
Although Polito’s last school year as superintendent started with a tense and ongoing contract negotiation process, she is hopeful that the situation will be resolved soon and all staff will be able to enjoy the remaining eight months of school.
“That’s a good amount of time to try and get ourselves back on track and continue some of the work that has been kind of paused and reestablish our relationship. I do not believe things are broken,” she said.
Polito expressed that she’s received a lot of hurtful comments from educators accusing her of “lack of leadership.” Despite how upsetting it is, she recognizes “that this is a process that is used so that folks who have associations can get their voices heard.”
“I look forward to finishing this year strong and having plenty of time to celebrate our successes, experience the joy of the work, and reconnect after this time we’ve spent apart and in conflict,” said Polito in her annoucment.
Polito noted in her statement that over the last five years, the district has faced some very eventful times fraught with big challenges such as: “COVID, which hit nine months after I started here at LLESD; Flooding at Las Lomitas; Construction at both sites; Dare I say, Twitter-gate; Conflict about our Ladera School site; and Impasse and a possible (teacher) strike.”
Editor’s note: This story has been updated on Oct. 17 to include an interview with Beth Polito.
