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With over 30 highly qualified candidates to review, Westminster School District’s (WSD) consulting firm, Leadership Associates, stated that this was one of the best superintendent candidate pools of all time. Ultimately, the best of the best rose to the top with a unanimous vote, the WSD Trustees governing the Board of Education chose to propel Dr. Gunn Marie Hansen toward final confirmation during their Board Meeting scheduled for March 23.
Dr. Hansen is widely considered one of the best superintendents in California as she won over a dozen professional awards over the past decade. Most notably in 2021 she won the Orange County School Board Association Maureen DeMarco Award for Exemplary Superintendents and in 2022 the Orange County 4th District Parent Teacher Association (PTA) Outstanding Superintendent Award. Dr. Hansen served the Orange Unified School District for thirteen years including nearly six years as Superintendent, with prior administration and teaching experiences in Compton USD, Montebello USD, the LA County Office of Education, and as a professor at California State University in Los Angeles. She has devoted 32 years of public- school service to students, staff and community focusing on the core value of supporting educational excellence and ensuring successful operations of award-winning schools.
With exceptionally well-rounded experience, Dr. Hansen will provide district fiscal, operational and educational leadership
to create plans founded in improving student learning with an emphasis on innovation and the continuing success of WSD’s award-winning excellence. Her resume details extensive academic achievements, awards, and community/business partnerships that highlight her successful relationships with all stakeholders including the high expectations of her clients – students, parents and staff. Dr. Hansen stated, “I am incredibly honored to be the Superintendent of the Westminster School District, and I look forward to collaborating with the Board of Education and the entire community of learners to continue to accelerate achievement and develop state-of-the-art programs for students.”
David Johnson, President WSD Board of Education stated, “Westminster School District is quickly becoming a destination district in Orange County sought by discerning parents, staff and teachers. Every year we are adding to an ever-growing list of awards most recently including California Distinguish Schools, CABE Dual Language Immersion, CSBA Golden Bell Awards, and CA Pivotal Practice awards. We raised our teachers’ and staffs’ total compensation to top third of all Orange County K-8 districts, maintain a very healthy fiscal surplus without cutting programs, offer a low student to teacher classroom ratio, and continually improve our site safety measures with one of the fastest police response times in the nation. Our specialty programs include dual language immersion in Vietnamese and Spanish, STEAM, GATE, Environmental Science and much more. Now we will also boast one of the best Superintendents in the entire state and she is in alignment with our goals for excellence. Welcome home Dr. Hansen! We are so fortunate to have you take the lead at WSD.”
