San Diego Unified Has A New (Permanent) Superintendent

By Jakob McWhinney, the Voice of San Diego

June 20, 2025

San Diego Unified’s board voted unanimously on Wednesday to appoint Interim Superintendent Fabiola Bagula to a permanent role. This marks the district’s third home-grown superintendent.

San Diego Unified’s board voted unanimously on Wednesday afternoon to give former Interim Superintendent Fabiola Bagula a new title: Superintendent.

The decision came nine months after Bagula took the reins of the district following the board’s firing of Lamont Jackson for sexually harassing multiple district employees.

From day one, board members made it clear they weren’t interested in launching the kind of flashy search that had brought them Jackson. Instead, they felt Bagula had exactly what it took to lead the state’s second-largest district through the leadership crisis Jackson’s behavior had plunged it into.

“She stepped into a really difficult situation. The district could have very easily lost focus at that point, and it didn’t. I think that’s because people trust Fabi,” said Trustee Richard Barrera. “In many ways, Fabi is the most qualified person ever to start as superintendent.”

Much of that confidence and trust came because of Bagula’s decades of experience in and around San Diego Unified. She started as a teacher at the district and rose to become a principal and then an area superintendent. In 2017, she departed to become an executive leadership coach at the San Diego County Office of Education, where she worked with superintendents around the county, before taking the lead of the office’s equity department.

In 2022, she returned to San Diego Unified as Jackson’s number two. During that time, Bagula spearheaded much of the instructional work at the district, which included building a more robust data reporting system.

That deep history – and the deep relationships Bagula has developed – were evident on Wednesday. The meeting had the air of a coronation celebration.

Well over 100 people packed into the stuffy auditorium at the district’s University Heights headquarters. Some even came with bouquets. When Bagula walked out onto the dais, the crowd leapt to their feet and erupted into applause.

Over the course of the next hour, speaker after speaker heaped praise on Bagula. They included leadership from the four unions that represent the district’s paraeducators, administrators, office workers and teachers, executives from nonprofits like the San Diego Foundation and the Chicano Federation, the Superintendent of Sweetwater Union High School District and even one of Bagula’s high school teachers. Bagula dabbed away tears every now and again.

But with those ringing endorsements came sky high promises.

“Her leadership is not only inspiring, it is transformative. I have complete confidence in her vision and her ability to lead San Diego Unified with compassion and purpose. I am confident that you will see more students thriving and a district culture that uplifts humanity,” said Carol Osborne, who worked with Bagula at the San Diego County Office of Education.

For many, it wasn’t just Bagula’s experiences as an educator and administrator that convinced them she was the best person for the job, it was her life experience. Bagula is the daughter of working-class parents and a first-generation college graduate who grew up on both sides of the border. She’s now the first Latina to lead the nearly majority Latino student population.

“She brings a powerful and important perspective that reflects and honors the students and families we serve,” Trustee Shana Hazan said from the dais.

That experience felt doubly important to some who spoke in light of the Trump administration’s crackdown on immigrant communities and the increasing danger of agents entering schools. Bagula and her staff have sought to ease those concerns by opening so-called newcomer welcome centers and engaging in educational campaigns about immigrants’ rights, though their rhetoric hasn’t always communicated just how little they can control.

While the meeting was ostensibly a vote, there was no great secret what the board’s decision would be. Many who spoke prior to her official appointment preemptively congratulated Bagula and there was even a taco stand and Logan Memorial Educational Campus’ mariachi band waiting on the lawn in front of the auditorium.

After the board’s unanimous vote, Trustee Cody Petterson ceremoniously walked to the front of the dais and replaced the “Interim Superintendent” placard that’s been below Bagula’s name for the last nine months with one that read, simply, “Superintendent.”

Despite the inauspicious beginnings, Bagula’s time as interim superintendent seemed to unfold smoothly enough. She even got some big things across the finish line, like implementing a new math curriculum for students in kindergarten through middle school and creating a more streamlined data dashboard for educators. She also stewarded the creation of a new, watered down graduation pathway that, while highly touted, could have some troubling long-term consequences if not watched.

In her new role, Bagula has said she’ll focus on everything from growing philanthropic partnerships to launching a college and career readiness dashboard for students and families. She’s also pledged to center everything she does in equity principles and ensuring the district is serving “100 percent of students 100 percent of the time.”

She’s clear about why she thinks this matters. As a young person, Bagula says it was her teachers who saw her potential and nurtured it. That profound experience is what pushed her to become an educator herself, and why she feels deeply about working to not only put students in the best position for academic success, but to also try to remove some of the barriers in their outside world that can get in the way.

“We live in a time of extraordinary promise and extraordinary responsibility,” she said after her appointment. “Public education is one of the last remaining democratic spaces where every child regardless of income, language, race or immigration status still has the right to thrive. That promise must be made real.”

But Bagula’s ties to the institution that is San Diego Unified presents both promises and perils. While she may be able to navigate the bureaucracy, know the levers to pull to get things done and have a finger on the pulse of the community, she also has emerged – at least partly – from a culture some have worried may be toxic.

The district’s last two superintendents, both homegrown like Bagula, neatly present that promise and peril. Cindy Marten navigated power and secured a role as deputy secretary of the U.S. Department of Education. Jackson’s navigated power in a very different way, and with a very different result.

Bagula’s path forward doesn’t have to be the black and white of her predecessors. By most accounts, Bagula is capable, deeply passionate, deeply researched and detail-oriented. But she didn’t escape the Jackson scandal completely unscathed. She was also accused of threatening employees and adding to Jackson’s harassment. Even that didn’t shake the confidence of board members.

After the vote, Bagula emerged from the district headquarters and strained her eyes against the bright afternoon sun.

When she entered the building that morning, she was still just an interim superintendent – someone sent in because the last guy was fired. That wasn’t the case anymore. Now, she was the person in charge of leading the second-largest district in California into an uncertain future filled with AI and Trump and budget fiascos. It was her job to ensure 95,175 children received an education that prepared them for whatever was next.

As Bagula walked to a waiting phalanx of television news cameras, she was interrupted by a new person every couple of steps. They were all smiles. Some wanted to give her flowers or balloons, others just wanted a picture or a hug. But they all wanted her time – even if only for a moment.

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