District Holds Town Halls In Search For New Leader

The search is on for a new person to lead the Sacramento City Unified School District. The district is kicking-off a series of town hall meetings tonight to hear what people in the community want to see in a new superintendent. 

Current Superintendent Jose Banda was hired in 2014 to lead the district of 43,000 students and 4,200 employees. Banda has decided not to renew his three-year contract.

"With his departure we will be starting the process of searching for somebody new to replace him to carry out the district's missions and visions," says Alex Barrios with the district.

Barrios says those missions and visions include making sure students are prepared for college or a career when they graduate.

"Unfortunately we have not been able to achieve that for every student who comes through our district," says Barrios. "And so one of the things that we really want to make sure the next superintendent is focused on is closing that achievement gap."

The district has also posted an online survey for the search.

Tonight's town hall will be held from 6 to 8 p.m. at C.K. McClatchy High School. Six more town halls will be held at other schools through mid-March. Here's the full schedule: