SLO County school district names new superintendent. ‘Such an element of positivity’
A North Coast school district will have a new superintendent as of July 1, but the educator is already well known in the district.
“It is a great honor to announce that Jill Southern will be the new superintendent for Coast Unified School District,” Scott Smith, the current superintendent, wrote in an email to parents and others after Southern was appointed by the district’s board of directors March 14.
The CUSD board “looks forward to a bright future under her leadership,” he said.
“It’s difficult to sum up this woman who is so diverse in talent and experience. But if I had to, I think I could do it in two words: passionate and compassionate. It’s apparent she gives her all and she does it with a smile,” Cambria Grammar School PTA president Agatha Diepenbrock told The Tribune by email. “This woman is a champion for our kids. As sad as I am to see her leave the principal position, I am confident that she will be one of the best superintendents this district has ever seen.
“She will be the first to greet you in the morning, knows every child by face and name, somehow completes the momentous task of principaling at its best, and almost always the last one to leave at the end of the day,” Diepenbrock wrote, adding that she’d found the principal at the school past 7 p.m. one night. “She was completing a 27-page grant that would be a huge help to our school budget. Other times I’ve noticed as she greeted kids at morning drop off, she would read their demeanor and follow up with them immediately if something seemed off. “
Southern has been the principal of the district’s sole elementary school since 2017. Five years later, she got an additional title and responsibilities as the district’s assistant superintendent for education services.
Prior to that, Southern, 52, taught at various grade levels in the Lucia Mar and Templeton school districts starting in 2003, rising in 2011 to become principal of Templeton Elementary School.
“When this opportunity came up, I didn’t even hesitate,” Southern told The Tribune of her new position Thursday. “I believe in this district, with all the strengths we have, and look forward to collaborating with everybody, moving forward with the board.”
A significant link for her is her connection to the upcoming class of high school seniors.
“I was their principal in fifth grade,” she said. “I know almost all the students and families, and I’m excited to be in this role in a district when I know all the humans involved. It’s a marvelous thing to know I already have a huge, trusting dynamic here (where) we want to promote involvement and voice.”
Southern described the North Coast community as a “very, very intensely special community, very unique.”
“Everybody believes in each other, and there are a lot of hardworking individuals willing to communicate well and openly,” she said. “There’s such an element of positivity in this district. We want students to achieve well but want to help the whole child grow.”
The Cal Poly grad holds a 2018 master’s degree with distinction in educational leadership and administration and a 1995 bachelor’s degree in environmental engineering with a minor in theater.
The latter factors into an aspect of Southern’s resume about which many in Cambria and her other school districts may not know: From 1995 to 2002, she was an assistant director on films like, “Jerry McGuire,” “Almost Famous” and “The Truman Show,” among others.
This story was originally published March 21, 2024 at 7:13 PM.
