SMMUSD is proud to announce that Dr. Matthews, Assistant Superintendent for Human Resources, has been appointed to be the new Superintendent of the Manhattan Beach Unified School District, effective July 1, 2010.
“I am humbled and honored to be selected as the new superintendent of the Manhattan Beach Unified School District,” said Dr. Matthews. “I look forward to getting to know the Manhattan Beach community and working with the Board of Education, the employees, and the community to move this great district forward.
I have learned so much in my seventeen years with SMMUSD. I am proud of my work with Santa Monica-Malibu employees, the board, the parents, and the community and all we have done together to benefit the students of the district.”
Tim Cuneo, the Superintendent of SMMUSD, says he is very happy for Dr. Matthews. “Manhattan Beach is gaining a strong leader who is dedicated to the success of all students. Mike has contributed a great deal to the success of SMMUSD and will be missed. I wish him all the best as Superintendent of Manhattan Beach USD.”
“Mike has shown great leadership during his tenure with our school district,” praised Board of Education President Barry Snell. “He was instrumental in guiding Malibu High School in its early days as a new high school, and his work as SMMUSD’s Assistant Superintendent for HR has been invaluable for our employee groups. Mike will be greatly missed, and I thank him for his dedication to our students and families.”
Dr. Matthews has served as Assistant Superintendent for Human Resources for SMMUSD since 2004, with a brief absence in 2006-07 when he was the Vice President of Extreme Learning. Matthews also served as Interim Superintendent for the Santa Monica-Malibu schools in 2006 while the Board of Education searched for a new Superintendent. As the head of human resources, Matthews served as chief negotiator for the district, recruited and hired all certificated staff, supervised employee discipline and dismissal procedures, handled all public and employee complaints and grievances, organized employee recognition, directed health and welfare benefits, and managed compliance with all state and federal regulations regarding teachers and administrators.
Prior to joining the SMMUSD district office team, Matthews served as the first principal of the newly-formed Malibu High School, a position he held from 1993 to 2004. Under his leadership, Malibu High School was named a CA Distinguished High School in 2004, AP scores rose, and the school was ranked among the top 10% of similar California schools. Even as principal, Matthews found time to remain directly connected to the students by teaching an Advance Placement U.S. History class every day. Teaching comes naturally to Matthews, who taught a range of social studies classes from 1985 to 1993.
Matthews is well-respected in SMMUSD, working closely with both certificated and classified staff. He is known for treating individuals with respect and addressing issues in a fair manner.
When asked about his goals prior to the end of his tenure with SMMUSD, Dr. Matthews answered, “The most important thing I will be working on during the remainder of this school year is to bring back as many of our employees as possible by passing Measure A, SMMUSD’s school funding measure.”
