Patty Jaffe, the obvious and overwhelmingly popular hometown choice, officially was introduced this afternoon as the Interim Superintendent of the Culver City Unified School District, effective immediately.
Unusually for a mobile society, Ms. Jaffe has spent the entirety of her 40-year education career in Culver City, and the final notes were to be sung next Wednesday, the day before her retirement was to start.
Never mind.
An emergency developed 27 days ago when Dr. Myrna Rivera Cote, superintendent for the past 3 ½ years, rocked the School Board at the start of the Memorial Day weekend, announcing her resignation one month in advance.
From that memorable Friday afternoon to today, Ms. Jaffe has been the favorite because, as Board Vice President Scott Zeidman, a student of hers in the mid-1970s said, “She knows everything about the District. She knows every person who works here. She will be the perfect bridge to a new permanent Superintendent.”
She Was Overwhelmed
In her office on Irving Place this afternoon, Ms. Jaffe was practically overcome by her selection. Her voice quavered.
The first question was whether she had to ponder lengthily when the quintessential position was offered at the hour she previously had suspected she would be undergoing a fitting for retirement robes. Not that she was ever going to take a chair on the sidelines, but more about that in a moment.
“I am…just…overwhelmed,” Ms. Jaffe said with a lilt that thousands of former students would instantly recognize.
“Anything I can do for the community, for the families, and especially for the students to make sure they get the best education, that is what I will do.”
Ms. Jaffe’s now-scrapped retirement strategy had been to start with a breath-catching rest, and then return to the campus of Loyola Marymount University where she has been teaching in recent times. “I have been a university supervisor,” she said, “mentoring up- and-coming administrators. I also have been teaching a class in organizational management.”
Not really retiring but exchanging campuses.
A native of Los Angeles, she attended USC, and in 1970, the school dispatched her to Culver City to do her student teaching, and also serve as an instructional assistant in special ed.
When she left the classroom in the middle ‘90s after a quarter-century to become assistant principal of the Middle School, Ms. Jaffe said that what she missed “was seeing the light go off in the eyes of my students when they got it.”
She taught English and U.S. history, mainly language arts.
Ms. Jaffe’s contractual agreement with the School District is on a day-to-day basis at a rate of $200,000 annually. Whenever a permanent Super is hired and ready to begin, in four, six or 12 months, Ms. Jaffe’s contract will expire. Unlike standard contemporary agreements, where about one-third of a package covers health and pension benefits, virtually all of Ms. Jaffe’s deal is salary, averaging $888 per day. Healthcare insurance and other benefits routinely written into agreements, including mileage reimbursements, have been eliminated,
Mr. Zeidman said that because of those special considerations, the revenue-starved — getting ready to slice $5 million more — will be saving $40,000 when compared to Dr. Cote’s contract.
