Sandra Lyon, who has been superintendent of the Santa Monica-Malibu Unified School District since 2011, will leave the post to take the same job in Palm Springs, the district announced Monday.
Lyon will step down July 1.
“I have had the wonderful opportunity to serve the Santa Monica and Malibu communities for the past five years, and am especially proud to be part of an amazing team of leaders and teachers who have worked very hard to build our school district into the high-performing school district it is today,” Lyon said. “This decision is a difficult one for me to make as we are turning the corner on becoming a more student-centered district with equity and access clearly defined as our goal for all students.”
In her new job with the Palm Springs Unified School District, Lyon will oversee a district with 27 schools in six Coachella Valley cities. The district has 23,300 students, well above the 11,000 in the SMMUSD.
Lyon previously spent two years with the Palmdale School District and served for three years as superintendent of the Hughes-Elizabeth Lakes School District in the Antelope Valley.
— Wire reports