Down to 38-year-old Dylan Farris’s last three days in the principal chair at Culver City High School, Supt. Dave LaRose calls Mr. Farris “a visionary who is truly grounded in his values. He is in this work because of his genuine affinity for kids.
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“His approach is very comfortable and committed to collaboration, shared decision-making, which is absolutely, positively essential.”
In the Super’s eyes, this is a winning asset because collaboration probably is Mr. LaRose’s No. 1 professional value.
After days of El Segundo-bound Mr. Farris hailing Mr. LaRose as his role model, as the superintendent the district long has been looking for, Mr. LaRose turned it around.
“I have often said the position most similar to the superintendent’s in a school system is the high school principalship,” he said.
“You look at the size of the school. You look at the diversity of the personnel, not just from classified, certified and administrative, but also departmentally. There are so many different moving pieces, and lots and lots of personalities, from the students’ perspective as well as the adults’ perspective, lots pf varied, and sometimes competing, interests.”
Mr. LaRose said that the positions of superintendent and principal carry similar expectations.
“You start,” he said, “with bringing that collective group around a common vision and direction. Then you build an environment of trust and faith in leadership, and one that shares in that leadership.
“Dylan has a strong skillset in all of those areas,” Mr. LaRose said.
(To be continued)
