School trustees name Bill Kowba as superintendent

The San Diego Unified School District Board of Education on Tuesday selected Bill Kowba for the superintendent post.

Kowba, a 58-year-old former Navy admiral, has been serving in the role in an interim basis since last year, and has won praise from both board members and staff.

The board was “very pleased and excited” to make Kowba the remaining finalist, President Richard Barrera said.

The board must still negotiate a contract with Kowba before the hiring decision can be formalized.

A top executive in the district since 2006, he was long considered to be a front-runner for the job, so the contract negotiations are expected to be a formality.

Kowba said he was honored to be selected and pledged “my faith and loyalty to this district.’” One of the qualities board members were looking for was a commitment to the district, which has had a revolving door at its top leadership position.

“I think we made the right choice, of the three (finalists), based on the totality of their experience,” board member Katherine Nakamura said.

The other two finalists were the Debbra Lindo, chief executive officer of College Track, a Bay Area educational nonprofit, and former Hayward Unified School District Superintendent Dale Vigil.

Board member John Lee Evans said with :five fairly independent-minded members of the board,’ the decision was “not taken lightly or easily.”