There are not many women of color in the superintendency. For some of them, the pandemic is a tipping point
By Stephen Sawchuk — May 21, 2021
When asked what’s been challenging about leading the Santa Rosa City Schools in California over her five-and-a-half year tenure, Superintendent Diann Kitamura can tick them off easily, one by one: Tubbs. Glass. Kincade.
Those are the names of the wildfires that rampaged through her district, destroying more than 800 students’ and staff members’ homes.
Asked about the challenges of leading through the 16-month stretch of the pandemic, she names the alphabet soup of federal and state health, education, labor, and occupational safety agencies whose conflicting and rapidly evolving guidance have shaped and sometimes constrained her ability to respond: the CDC, the CDPH, the CDE, OSHA, and the SRTA.