Oak Park Unified School District names next superintendent

Oak Park Unified School District has officially found its next superintendent in Ventura Unified.

The announcement naming Jeff Davis was made following closed session at Oak Park school board's Tuesday meeting. The school board voted unanimously on his appointment.

Davis is currently the assistant superintendent of certificated human resources in Ventura Unified.

"Jeff is a strong, collaborative and proven leader with years of instructional and executive cabinet-level experience working in several school districts," said Board Member Denise Helfstein in a statement shared by the district.

"One of the things that stood out to me about Jeff is that he is a long-standing community member of the Conejo Valley," she continued. "He knows Oak Park and shares the collective conscience of our community — from Borderline to Woolsey, to what we have endured through the COVID-19 pandemic."

A district tweet announcing the appointment received an outpouring of support from in and out of the community, especially from Davis' colleagues in Ventura.

Speaking from Oak Park on Wednesday afternoon, Davis said he was feeling a lot of different emotions.

"I’m just really eager to get to work," he said.

Davis will take over following current Superintendent Tony Knight's retirement effective June 30. Knight has spent 39 years in the district in various roles, including 17 as superintendent.

Davis' experience in education

The incoming superintendent has a bachelor's degree in history and a master's degree in educational administration from CSU Northridge, a master's degree in athletic administration from Ohio State University and a doctorate in education leadership from USC.

Davis worked at a number of Los Angeles County schools early in his career from 1986 to 2007 at El Camino Real High School, Canoga Park High School, Burbank High School, Sun Valley Middle School and Chatsworth High School. He was director of high school programs for Los Angeles Unified School District before coming to Ventura County.

In 2008, Davis became director of secondary education at Conejo Valley Unified School District, where he remained for seven years. He then moved to serve as assistant superintendent in La Cañada Unified School District in La Cañada Flintridge.

In 2017, he joined Ventura Unified School District and has been in his role as assistant superintendent since.

For about two months at the start of 2019, Davis was appointed interim superintendent following former Superintendent David Creswell's resignation. Davis held the position until current Superintendent Roger Rice's start in March of that year.

Davis currently lives in Thousand Oaks with his wife, Laurie Davis, who is principal of Conejo Valley Unified's Weathersfield Elementary School in Thousand Oaks.

Thoughts on the future

Davis said feels that the transition between Knight and him will be smooth. The two will be working closely together over the next few weeks and months in preparation, he explained.

Given that he has worked at a high level in a district of Ventura's size and one like La Cañada Unified — which he said was "very similar" to Oak Park, Davis feels prepared to take on the role of superintendent.

He said he's always wanted to be superintendent of a district similar or just slightly bigger than Oak Park Unified. Despite the coincidence, he said Oak Park was a place he wanted to be superintendent if the opportunity arose.

His first goal once becoming superintendent will be to meet and listen to people, and develop professional relationships.

He's also looking forward to visiting classrooms and get to the know the community.

"I don’t see how anybody can be a superintendent just sitting in their office," he said.

Next steps

Davis will step into the role on July 1.

His contract, approved during Tuesday's meeting, outlined compensation, including a recommended annual base salary of $220,000 plus benefits.

Shivani Patel covers education for The Star as a Report for America corps member. Reach her at shivani.patel@vcstar.com or 805-603-6573. She is also on Twitter at @shivaaanip.