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School district assistant superintendent resigns

William Ferchland

Barbara Davis, the assistant superintendent for educational services for Lake Tahoe Unified School District, has submitted her resignation after accepting a job in Southern California.

Davis’ last day with the district will be Aug. 26 if the school board approves her resignation during a closed session when personnel matters are heard.

If approved, Davis, who has been with LTUSD as the assistant superintendent for nine years, will take the same job with Pleasant Valley School District in Camarillo near Ventura.



“I think it’s an exciting opportunity to share my skills and experience,” Davis said.

Pleasant Valley School District is a growing kindergarten to eighth-grade school district with plans to unify with a high school district. Pleasant Valley School District Superintendent Thomas Dase said Davis’ experience at the secondary level made her the leading candidate among a pool of about a dozen during interviews July 18.



“We’re really looking forward to having her join our team,” Dase said.

Davis applied for the superintendent position at Lake Tahoe Unified and was among eight candidates interviewed in May for the position. James Tarwater was selected for the job.

Davis said the board not picking her did not catalyze her decision to leave. She said she has gotten along with Tarwater and denied any clashes.

Underlining her desire for something new, Davis said if she had been tapped for the superintendent position, “then I would have been offered new challenges and experiences here.”

Tarwater said he expects that the board will hold off on looking for a new assistant superintendent until after enrollment numbers arrive in the fall. Around that time a fiscal report by visiting professionals will be completed and will likely contain staffing advice for a shrinking school district like LTUSD.

“The biggest thing to me is where we’re going to bottom out (enrollment wise),” Tarwater said.

Enrollment is expected to drop 230 students from last year’s mark of 4,700 students, Tarwater said. The good news for the district is that 54 applicants for the new Lake Tahoe Environmental Science Magnet School are students from outside the district.

Davis said she has mixed feelings about leaving the district she has been with for nearly a decade.

“I have a lot of dear relationships up here that I’m going to miss,” she said.


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