David C. Creswell has been a teacher, principal and district administrator at all school levels for 35-years.
The Ventura Unified School District (VUSD) Board has selected David C. Creswell, 59 as the new school superintendent. He is the fifth superintendent in the past 30 years. His salary is $222,000 per year.
Creswell has an extensive school background including Fontana Unified School District’s associate superintendent of human resources and the associate superintendent at Fontana Unified. Assistant superintendent in Ontario from 2007 to 2013, an assistant superintendent of administrative services at Cucamonga School District from 2006 to 2007 and an administrator of alternative education from 2003 to 2006 at Alvord Unified School District in Riverside.
In 2016 has was selected as a Human Resources Leader of the Year by the Association of California School Administrators.
He and wife Debra are passionate people helping victims of child human trafficking. For the past seven years, they have traveled to Southeast Asia to help young children who have been victimized. Creswell said he is looking forward to learning about his new community and starting relationships with district staff members, students, parents and teachers.
Creswell was selected after a four-month search that included 51 candidates. Public input was involved and a community panel of community leaders also interviewed the five finalists and made recommendations to the board.
In selecting him Board member Mary Haffner stated “The process we went through to find our new Superintendent was thorough and inclusive. I feel very confident in our selection and I believe that David possesses the attributes and characteristics that will allow him to be very successful in Ventura Unified.”
Pastor Jim Duran was on the community panel and told the Breeze “Our panel was diversified and extremely passionate about the City of Ventura and our School District. The eight of us had extremely stimulating dialog and after two days we were able to come to an agreement for our top choice. I know that each of us felt an incredible responsibility to give the School Board the best feedback in order for them to ultimately make their decision.”
Board member Velma L. Lomax continued “We went through a very rigorous process this time, with interviews by the Board and a Community Panel as well as a written portion and oral presentation. After three long days we decided on hiring David Creswell. I feel confident we have made the best decision and that he will be a great asset to our district.”
Board member Sabrena Rodriguez said “David’s considerable experience in education, the diverse roles he has held in other districts and his stellar communication skills were all significant factors in our choosing him to lead our district. I was most excited by his obvious commitment to the welfare of the children in our community – their educational outcomes and their personal well-being.”
Lastly Board member Madhu Bajaj, President, Ventura Education Partnership “I am thrilled for David Creswell to join our community. He lives and breathes a powerful and beautiful leadership style focused on service and relationship building. And, he sees areas of opportunity to strengthen VUSD by bringing people together for the benefit of our students.”
