Las Lomitas Elementary School District Superintendent Beth Polito announced she will be retiring at the end of the 2024-25 school year. Her five-year tenure as superintendent of LLESD will end on Aug. 30, 2025, according to a district announcement on Wednesday, Oct. 16, obtained by The Almanac.
The announcement comes in the midst of a contentious contract negotiation process between LLESD educators and the district. Over 800 community members signed a Change.org petition expressing that they have no confidence in Polito’s leadership.
Prior to working at LLESD, Polito served as the superintendent of the Woodside Elementary School District for eight years and carries 31 years of experience in education. At LLESD, Polito received $383,021 in total compensation annually.
In June 2023, Polito went on medical leave when she was diagnosed with leukemia. After receiving a bone marrow transplant and going through recovery, she returned to the district in January 2024.
“Just a few days ago, I reached the one-year anniversary of my bone-marrow transplant. I’m cancer free and feeling really strong,” Polito said in the announcement. “I can safely spend as much time as I want on campus, so expect to see much more of me as I work with staff, students and the community to manage our current circumstances and complete the work of the strategic plan in its fifth year.”
Polito states that she intended to retire at the end of the 2023-24 school year, but was “waylaid” by her leukemia diagnosis and wanted to have an opportunity to spend more time working on campus.
“The board is grateful to Dr. Polito for her over five years of service to the Las Lomitas Elementary School District and her lifetime dedication to students and their education,” said school board President Heather Hopkins in a statement to The Almanac.
Polito shared her retirement plans with Hopkins over the summer and the rest of the board in September. The school board will be taking the time to recruit and onboard a new superintendent before next school year.
“I look forward to finishing this year strong and having plenty of time to celebrate our successes, experience the joy of the work, and reconnect after this time we’ve spent apart and in conflict,” said Polito.
Polito noted in her statement that over the last five years, the district has faced some very eventful times fraught with big challenges such as: “COVID, which hit nine months after I started here at LLESD; Flooding at Las Lomitas; Construction at both sites; Dare I say, Twitter-gate; Conflict about our Ladera School site; and Impasse and a possible (teacher) strike.”
Editor’s note: This is a developing story and will be updated.