Schools losing deputy supt.

WEST BURBANK — Joel Shapiro, deputy superintendent of Burbank Unified School District, will leave to head up South Pasadena Unified School District on Dec. 7.

Shapiro is entering his 38th year in education and leaves Burbank Unified after more than five years.

“It is really an exciting challenge, particularly in this day and age, to take on the challenge of being a superintendent,” he said. “It’s also something I undertake knowing how much I’m going to miss Burbank, especially all the people I worked with. This is an outstanding community with terrific schools; however, it’s an opportunity that would be difficult to pass up.”

District officials would likely divide Shapiro’s responsibilities among staff rather than hire a replacement, board members said.

Shapiro oversaw the district’s instruction services division and 11 schools and principals. He led special education directors, student services, educational support services, the district’s Arts for All program and K-12 professional development programs.

“He covered a lot of bases for us,” Burbank Unified Board of Education President Dave Kemp said. “People really have nothing but the highest respect for him. When we lose somebody like that, our loss is certainly somebody else’s gain, and I think South Pasadena is getting an absolute jewel.”

Shapiro came to Burbank after 28 years in Glendale Unified School District, where he worked his way up from a teacher to school principal and on to the district’s curriculum and instruction director.

“I think he’s going to be a great match for the district,” said John Fitzpatrick, the interim superintendent for South Pasadena. “He met a lot of the criteria the community and board wanted. He’s got great experience, and they wanted someone with a lot of experience and someone who will stay in the district for a long period of time, which he’s committed to do.”

Former colleagues in Glendale pegged Shapiro as a potential finalist for the eventual superintendent vacancy in Burbank when then-Supt. Gregory Bowman retired after seven years at the post.

But Shapiro was not a finalist for the Burbank position, and while board members stand behind the superintendent search process, they acknowledged Shapiro’s departure was a loss.