By LAURA QUEZADA News Review Staff Writer–
Dr. Dave Ostash, Superintendent of Sierra Sands Unified School District (SSUSD), tells us his contract with SSUSD ends on June 30, but his last day in his office will be Thursday, June 29. It is a quick turnaround until he starts his new position as CEO of Self Insurance Schools of California (CISC) on July 3, a position he has been transitioning into over the last six months. We asked Dr. Ostash about his greatest accomplishments, greatest challenges, what he enjoyed most about being Superintendent, where he gets support, and his new position.
/ Laura Austin
Ostash has served SSUSD for 27 years in a career that grew from being hired as an English teacher at Burroughs High School (BHS) in 1996, shortly after graduating from UCLA. “Bruce Auld was Superintendent at the time, and Ken Bergevin was the principal at Burroughs High School; they’re the ones who hired me. From the very first day in the earliest moments of my career, I saw Bruce Auld, a highly visible leader who cared deeply for all the employees and all the students in the district. I saw him as serving as an example of how it should be.
“I transitioned in 1999 as a Teacher on Assignment as the Dean of Students for a couple of years,” he says. “That was my entry into school administration. From that, I moved into Assistant Principal. I got my first principal job at James Monroe Middle School in 2005, in 2008, I came back to BHS as principal at Burroughs, in 2014, I became Assistant Superintendent for Human Resources, and then in 2019, I became Superintendent.
/ Laura Austin Photo
“I’ve enjoyed being able to fill lots of different roles, but they all had a universal theme, which was supporting students, supporting staff, and making sure that students had the best educational opportunity possible.”
One would think that his greatest challenges would include the earthquakes of 2019 and the global pandemic; however, they weren’t. Of these events, he says, “There were, of course, moments of challenges associated with that. But whether we’re talking about a personal or a professional or a family situation, we know that challenges are what bring about the most growth and the newest opportunities. I always just kept my mind attuned to the fact that even in the most challenging moments, whether it was an hour, whether it was a day, whether it was a week, even in those moments, I always reminded myself that these are the moments where we grow the most and emerge stronger.”
His greatest professional challenge has been one shared throughout our region and other remote towns and cities. “One thing that comes to mind, of course, is there is a degree of isolation and remoteness here. I’m sure there are lots of places around our globe that are much more remote or much more isolated. But one of the challenges when you get into leadership, is the recruitment of new teachers, especially specialty positions that require advanced education, training, and certification, none of which can be earned here. You can’t receive your teaching credential or your school psychologist certification or speech-language pathologist etc. You have to recruit people from around the country to come here. I’ve actually enjoyed working through that challenge. I’ve enjoyed being on the road, so to speak, and recruiting in other places and other states. So even in that challenge, there’s also opportunity in there that I’ve enjoyed working through.”
On a personal level, “My biggest challenge here was the loss of a pool to workout and when we lost In-Shape from COVID.” (see page 3) “That was really a very specialized thing that I like to do. I don’t like to run. I don’t like to lift weights. I just don’t like doing that. But I like swimming. So when I lost a pool that was less than a mile away for me to go swimming every day, which I did, for 25 minutes, when I lost that, I would almost argue that was one of my biggest challenges over the last few years.”
Ostash looks at accomplishments in more than one way. “I think you could categorize accomplishments in different ways. In one sense, accomplishment could be considered a very tactical thing that maybe we achieved with my involvement. I can think back on some tactical things, some of the years when we saw real improvements in test scores or achievements with our student groups or robotics or music groups or athletic groups, whenever championships or moments of excellence were recognized by a regional or state or national level. Those are all achievements that I’ve greatly appreciated.
“But there are other types of accomplishments. I hope that one of my accomplishments was related to things that are not so tactical, which are things like approach or culture. I hope that in my time here, my level of access and visibility to students, parents, community leaders, and just the community at large, I would like to think that there was a level of accomplishment there that I’ve enjoyed making myself accessible and visible to the maximum extent possible.
“Another accomplishment would be my own family’s involvement. My children have greatly enjoyed and appreciated, and contributed to the schools. I’d like to think of that as another accomplishment: my own family recognizing the value of SSUSD. And our schools recognize that there’s a tremendous asset that we all have in this community, we all have it, it’s available to all of us, and we all own it. I always tell students you own as much of the school as I do. It’s our school.”
Ostash enjoys his work and the career path he has followed. “What I’ve always enjoyed most about every role is the connections. It’s about relationships, but it’s a little bit more than that. It’s the connection that you make, whether it’s a student, staff member, or community member, how can we leverage that connection to make our school or our community better? Safer? More opportunity? In this particular role, if you’re asking me about the superintendent role, what I’ve enjoyed is developing those connections. The superintendent role is the role that has perhaps the broadest set of responsibilities because there’s oversight, there’s influence, and there’s responsibility for everything—construction, finance, curriculum and instruction, technology, nutritional services, and transportation.
/ Laura Austin Photo
“So what happens is in this role, you end up being able to make connections with all of the different leaders throughout the entire Valley and beyond, of course, for the express purpose of leading SSUSD to be at the greatest height possible at the greatest success possible. I’ve really enjoyed getting to make connections with leaders in all of the different employers and towns, sharing best practices, and sharing resources in ways that helped one another. And problem solving; because the leaders of organizations throughout town obviously have different problems to solve, but we all have those universal things to solve: recruitment and retention of a highly trained workforce.
“One of the ways to make those connections was, for example, through the community Follies (Ridgecrest Chamber All-Star Follies). I think one of its root reasons was pulling people together so that you can break down barriers, break down inefficiencies, and improve all organizations and talent through those connections. So I think that is what I’ve enjoyed most about this position, making connections.”
One has to wonder where a person in his position finds support. “I find it in several ways. One, I’ve had a very supportive board. You know, we have five board members, and I’ve had a very supportive board who have balanced both high expectations of me with support and in all ways that I could imagine from the governance side and also the more interpersonal side. All of the board members have really invested in me as a leader and as a person as a human being, and so I’m really grateful. I know it’s not like that in all other districts. I know that because I have friends and colleagues who are superintendents in other areas who haven’t experienced that. So for me, it’s been an extraordinary benefit, and I’m greatly appreciative of the professional and personal support that I’ve gotten from our board. It’s not a surprise really to me because our community is filled with outstanding people who are just genuinely engaged in doing the right thing for the right reasons.
“Obviously, my family. My family is aware of the prices that are paid in leadership. And so my family and I both have a lot of patience for that and awareness. We work really hard to take the responsibilities that I have in stride and to look at the big picture and understand that it’s all about the greater good.
“I’ve been very grateful for the collaboration and support of my leadership team and, most specifically, my Cabinet.” His Cabinet consists of leaders in charge of their departments: Assistant superintendents of Human Resources, Curriculum and Instruction, Technology, Special Education, and Business. “I can’t say enough great things about every single one of my Cabinet members who have been incredible professionals, high performers, and all of whom I consider friends and comrades.
“I would say those three. I could go on and on because there are many other people I consider very supportive but the Board, my family, and the Cabinet.”
The News Review spoke to Ostash in our January 27, 2023 issue. We learned that he would live in Bakersfield during the week and maintain his family home in Ridgecrest. Of his new position, he told us, “SISC is a nonprofit Joint Powers Authority, a JPA, that started in the late 1970s. SSUSD was among the very early districts when the JPA was first initially formed and created to allow public school districts to be part of a pool so that you could get better pricing and better products in health and welfare, administration, workers comp, property, and liability. SSUSD is among the 500 school districts in California that belong to the pool. So about half of all the public school districts in the State of California belong to SISC.”
Today he tells us, “It’s a privilege and an opportunity to be able to join that organization and be a part of really the mission of schools helping schools I’ve really appreciated getting to know a number of the outstanding, dedicated employees at CISC and so I’m looking forward to getting to know the rest of those people and then building essentially the same type of relationships and connections that I’ve made over the last 27 years here, over the next many years there. So in that sense, it’ll be the same, I’ll be surrounded by dedicated people, and we will work together to do the best thing we can for our members. So in that sense, it’s almost just pretty much the same thing.
“The work changes a little bit because it’s more focused on the business needs and support of the member districts, as opposed to directly serving students. I’m indirectly serving students because I’m moving into an organization that specifically supports the employees of all the school districts; it just becomes more indirect than direct but equally important.” This directly helps to serve the challenge of finding and retaining specialized staff. “We can help provide the best benefits, the best service at the cheapest price, that’s all part of that holistic approach to creating the very best working conditions for current and future teachers and school employees.
“I see how it’s tied together and connected. And so, for me, it’s very exciting.”
