The Ridgefield School District’s (RSD) Board of Directors announced the decision to make Dr. Jenny Rodriquez the district’s next superintendent following a special meeting Saturday, March 2.
Rodriquez assumes her duties effective July 1, two months and one week following the district’s April 23 special election.
Rodriquez currently serves as assistant superintendent of teaching and learning for Yakima School District. She replaces Chris Griffith, who has served as the district’s interim superintendent since August last year, when former Superintendent Nathan McCann resigned.
“We are thrilled to welcome Dr. Jenny Rodriquez as our next superintendent,” Ridgefield Board President Brett Jones said in a news release. “Her proven leadership and unwavering commitment to student success make her a great fit for Ridgefield.”
Rodriquez began her career in education in Richland, Washington, as an elementary school secretary and attendance clerk. She later earned her bachelor’s degree in history as well as a master’s degree in teaching and a doctorate in educational leadership, all from Washington State University, according to a press release.
After years of teaching middle and high school students social studies and English language arts, Rodriquez became principal and later an executive director of teaching and learning in the Pasco School District in 2013, according to the release.
The announcement came the weekend following a series of interviews for the superintendent finalists. Candidate Asha Riley, assistant superintendent of Woodland Public Schools, was named her district’s superintendent, reducing the candidate pool to Rodriquez and Dr. Wesley Benjamin, executive principal of Forney High School in Texas.
During a Feb. 29 open interview, Rodriquez emphasized transparency and honesty as some of her core values.
“I would want you to know [that] integrity to me is doing what you say you will do, and I will do what I will say and will do,” Rodriquez said during the finalist forum. “...You should know that sometimes that makes me friends and sometimes that doesn't, but I’m actually not here for a popularity contest. I am here to make sure we do the very best job we can for our children. I’m here to make sure that our teachers have what they need, and that we ensure that they are doing the very best job that they can.”
When Rodriquez begins her position on July 1, RSD will know whether its proposed facilities bonds to accommodate growth will pass.
She said she is well acquainted with the challenges that accompany a growing district based on her time working for Pasco School District. Rodriquez spoke with the district’s principals while visiting the district to become familiar with the challenges at their facilities.
“I visited every school today,” Rodriquez said Feb. 29. “We’ve got places where we’re running lunches in two locations, two per grade level. I can only imagine how many hours they’re spending in lunch, probably from 10:30 in the morning to 1 in the afternoon to get all the kids through given the space challenge.”
Rodriquez said the district cannot solve its growth challenges until it can utilize more space, alluding to the upcoming special election. She explained, during her time in Pasco, the district saw massive growth.
She explained that after a bond failed in Pasco in 2011, she and her team regrouped to understand the reasoning behind its failure. Rodriquez said that finding the root cause of why bonds fail to pass is important for districts to succeed.
“Often, when you see a bond failure, you’ll see the district come right out and run it again. And in that case we took about 18 months as a district to understand why it [failed],” she said. “What did we not do? What did we not share? Why were people voting now? We tried to figure that out so when we ran it again we could address those concerns.”
Rodriquez said a subsequent bond package in 2013 passed. After another Pasco bond measure failed in 2017, Rodriquez said it failed because of the rising costs for school facilities. Rodriquez said that the team successfully passed a proposed bond in November the same year.
“The school that you could’ve built from one price tag five years ago is a lot more expensive today,” she said. “The flip side of that for this community is that with growth, you’re growing a tax base. I think there’s a lot to be said about hoping folks understand [that] your tax rate is well below what it used to be when you had way fewer people here. [The] thing’s helping people understand that.”
During the forum, Rodriquez said she had been researching the district’s performance to understand how to address student needs in the future. She said that monitoring how the district performs over time will help develop solutions and form action plans for students.
“I do recognize that there are disparities, particularly for your students who are below the poverty line, for your students who receive special education services and for some of your Latinx students,” she said. “For me, equity is about looking [and] asking questions. When there is a challenge that exists, we don't ignore it but instead daylight it, and seek solutions together to address it.”
During the forum, Rodriquez highlighted her commitment to maintaining affordable career technical education programs, alongside performing and visual arts programs for students to express themselves.
Rodriquez’s hire is contingent upon final contract negotiations and background checks, the district’s news release stated.
