Familiar face to serve as Assistant Superintendent of Business Services.
After a months-long competitive search, the Ventura Unified School District (VUSD) Board of Education has voted, 5-0, to hire VUSD’s current Chief Innovations Officer, Rebecca Chandler, as its new Assistant Superintendent of Business Services. Ms. Chandler replaces Ms. Betsy George, who resigned from her position in June 2020. Ms. Chandler will begin as the Assistant Superintendent of Business Services on October 1, 2020. In this new role, she will oversee various departments, including Budget & Finance, Facilities, Food and Nutrition Services, Payroll, Risk Management, and Transportation. Ms. Donna Rose, who has been serving as the Interim Assistant Superintendent, will continue to work to ensure a smooth transition occurs.
Since joining the VUSD team in 2019, Ms. Chandler has been highly effective in her current position, working to upgrade systems and structures at the District office and bringing in more than $5 million in support of Career Technical Education in VUSD. Ms. Chandler has accomplished all this while cultivating strong working relationships with District and site staff and community, local businesses, and industry leaders.
“In addition to her strong skill set and experience, Ms. Chandler is an innovative leader with a deep knowledge of teaching and learning. It will be a luxury to have someone guiding the allocation of resources who understands the programs they are meant to support. This has already paid huge dividends as she worked to support our transition to distance learning through her leadership of our implementation of Canvas, the District’s learning management platform,” stated Superintendent Dr. Roger Rice.
Ms. Chandler previously served in Oxnard Union High School District, VC Innovates at the Ventura County Office of Education, Ventura Community College, Simi Valley Unified School District, and in the private sector. In her various roles, she was instrumental in developing countywide standards-based curriculum, served as a leading expert in the realm of Career Technical Education, implemented numerous software platforms to streamline processes, managed budgets that included state and federal funding and monitoring, oversaw several extensive facilities upgrades and new construction projects and mitigated risk with every project.
“Ms. Chandler brings a great deal of knowledge in fiscal and purchasing management, teaching, facilities, risk management, and technology. She is a strong leader with a passion for doing what is best for students. She will make an excellent addition to our Executive Cabinet,” stated Assistant Superintendent of Human Resources, Dr. Jeff Davis.
