School politics: Paso's outgoing superintendent, Curt Dubost, reflects on a 'wild ride' as the search starts for his replacement 

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Curt Dubost has seen a lot in the last five years.

A pandemic shutdown, culture war politics, "seismic anomalies" beneath a crumbling campus, and a growing concern that compromise is becoming more and more impossible in the Paso Robles Joint Unified School District.

"These last few years have been full of conundrums," the district's superintendent said. "It's been a wild ride."

In late 2022, he announced his plans to retire at the end of the 2023-24 school year just as his contract with the district ends.

"I knew when I stepped into this role five years ago that I was never going to be a transformational leader in the long term," he said. "I knew I was going to be a transitional leader."

'Mr. Toad's Wild Ride'

With the search for his successor underway, Dubost said "Mr. Toad's Wild Ride" is the best—and his favorite—analogy to describe the last five years.

He took over after then Superintendent Chris Williams left in late 2018 due to the state of district finances, which were in disarray.

"When I first started, we had 0.9 percent left in our financial reserve, so we had no money," he said. "Teachers' unions were irate that they were going to suffer the consequences of decisions made by the school board and previous superintendent, and there was no money available for pay raises. I mean people were exiting as quickly as they could have—and all of this is before the pandemic hit."

Dubost had been the superintendent of the Templeton Unified School District, Taft Unified School District, and San Miguel Joint Union but said he knew Paso would be different.

"I was uniquely qualified when the position opened up because I understood the old guard of North County but also had experience outside of this area," he said. "Not that I thought I was some kind of magical being or anything, but I've been very confident of my traits in this role since the beginning."

From the moment he became superintendent, Dubost said he knew that he had to make it clear that he would do everything in his power to push for compromise.

"I've had a moderate view, one of a compromiser that was right down the middle of the road," he said. "I've tried to maintain that to the best of my abilities."

But it's been a constant struggle, and he's fielded criticism from the district's board and the community.

"The extremists on both sides have been disappointed in me for certain," Dubost said. "I wouldn't even say it's just the conservatives either; the far left is just as responsible for this as the others."

Dubost said he faced criticism from progressives over the district's handling of accommodations for the district's Spanish-speaking population, LGBTQ-plus issues, and claims of bias over what school projects get built first.

He said he's tried to argue common sense on items that come before the district board, including the culture war issues of critical race theory and parents' rights, and find solutions that both sides could agree on. It's been a struggle.

"I've had friends on the left think I am a conservative because I won't embrace all aspects of everything in critical race theory," Dubost said. "And the wackadoodles on the right—I mean they are just nuts, and most of them aren't even parents; they're politicians."

While Dubost said he understands that some issues are inherently inflammatory, he feels that district politics have a "you are with us or against us" mentality.

"If I agree with everything except two out of your 10 points, and it doesn't matter what political leaning, it doesn't mean I disagree with you," he said with a sigh.

Those politics compelled Dubost to announce before the 2022 election that he would be retiring at the end of his contract.

"I wanted voters in that election to understand that whatever board members they were electing were going to be choosing the next superintendent," he said. "This was one of the few things where I was as close to partisan as I've ever been."

Dubost said it's no surprise that people have been critical of some of his stances, adding that when he did deviate from the middle ground, it was rooted in particular criticisms.

"Of course, there are people who want to see me gone, especially before the last election," he said with a laugh, referring to current district board member Kenney Enney's 2022 campaign of "Dubost's a lousy superintendent."

More than anything, though, Dubost's worried that if the district can't move past its current politics, more and more programs will suffer.

In limbo

The best example of a program that's suffered due to political squabbles? Dubost said it's the district's English-Spanish dual immersion program.

"The district has got to make a decision on where to place the dual immersion program," he said. "It's going to be controversial, there's going to be hate and discontent, but they have to decide in either January or February."

The fate of Georgia Brown Elementary—which houses the program—has been stuck in limbo for more than two years.

"The status quo cannot continue," he said. "We continue to pretend it's OK for kids to be at the Georgia Brown site with the issues that it has, I mean it's falling apart."

In 2021, district officials contemplated closing the site altogether, before community pushback paused the conversation. In 2022, the board opted to move forward with reconstruction of the campus. But earlier this year, the state discovered a geological anomaly beneath the school site, halting those efforts.

"If it hadn't been for that seismic anomaly underneath it, that building would be under construction right now," he said.

Dubost said the dual immersion program isn't going anywhere, at least not while he's still superintendent, but he can't guarantee where it will be located this time next year. He hopes that in his final few months as superintendent, the board members will understand that they were elected to these roles for a reason and make a decision on the elementary school's fate.

"There's going to be people pissed off no matter what, so be it. [The board members] ran for these positions knowing they would have to make tough decisions," he said. "Well, now you are going to have to make that tough decision, and if you don't get reelected as a result, I'm sorry, but you have to do what is right for these kids."

The district's working with an executive search firm, Leadership Associates, to take in applications until Jan. 22, 2024, for Dubost's replacement, slated to take over on July 1, 2024.

Whoever it is, Dubost said, needs to be able to move the district's board to find consensus on tough issues through compromise. The next superintendent, he said, needs to be a "unifier."

"If you aren't willing to address things from another person's perspective, you won't be able to get anything done," he said. "To have extreme positions from any perspective isn't helping anyone, let alone the kids who are affected by it."

New Times reached out to the district regarding the current status of the search, including the current number of applicants, but district officials said that legally all application materials are confidential.

Despite all of the political conflict, Dubost said he still has high hopes for the district.

"I think the vast majority of teachers want to do a great job, most of our staff want what's best for Paso Robles, the vast majority have kids in school here and want them to succeed," he said. "Be Americans, be Paso Roblans, let's come together for God's sake and make this work for the people who matter the most—the kids." Δ

Reach Staff Writer Adrian Vincent Rosas at [email protected].