Dr. Randolph E. Ward

Dr. Randolph E. Ward was hired as San Diego County superintendent of schools on June 29, 2006, and began his official duties in the new position on August 14 of that year. Under his leadership the San Diego County Office of Education completed its first formal Strategic Plan. As part of that process Dr. Ward and his staff worked with educational and community leaders throughout the county to craft the new Strategic Plan. For information on the Strategic Plan, go to: http://www.sdcoe.net/strategic/

Prior to being named San Diego County superintendent of schools, Dr. Ward was the state-appointed administrator of the Oakland Unified School District, from June 2003 until 2006. Under his leadership, test scores in Oakland Unified increased significantly. In addition, drop-out rates declined, attendance increased, enrollment in Advanced Placement courses increased, and school crime decreased significantly. He was credited with closing a multimillion dollar budget shortfall, as well as generating unprecedented community involvement in the school system, leading to passage of a $430 million facilities bond measure.

Prior to his tenure in Oakland, Dr. Ward was the state-appointed administrator in the Compton Unified School District from November of 1996 until June 2003. In Compton, Ward is credited with restoring fiscal and academic solvency to the struggling school system. In June 2001, Compton Unified made history by becoming the first school district taken over by the state to repay its bankruptcy loan.

Prior to the Compton position, Dr. Ward served as an elementary school principal and then an area superintendent for the Long Beach Unified School District in California. Ward’s education career began in 1979, as a preschool teacher in his hometown of Boston. Fluent in Spanish and English, he has also taught in Colombia and Venezuela.

He is married and has two elementary-age children, one boy and one girl.