After seven years with Pleasanton Unified School District, Superintendent Dr. David Haglund has announced his departure from the role, effective August 1st, 2024.
“I am preparing to bring this chapter to a close – to head back to Southern California to see what I can contribute there and refocus my attention on my growing family,” said Dr. Haglund, via a district-wide email sent on April 22nd.
Getting Started
Before his move up north to Pleasanton, Dr. Haglund lived in Riverside, where he quickly made his way up the administrative ladder. When he made the transition to Pleasanton, he was met with decisions to be made, and actions to take.
“There was a distrust between the community and the school district. There were just a lot of concerns that were going on. They were looking for someone who could come in and pull people together…I finally came to the conclusion that I think I could be helpful to this group of people that are looking to change what’s happening right now. So I figured, I’ll throw my hat in the ring and see what happens,” said Dr. Haglund.
The last few years have proved to be full of challenges for PUSD as a whole. From the COVID-19 pandemic to APT negotiations, Dr. Haglund had his hands full.
“COVID was obviously one of the roughest things that the country has gone through. There were people that lost their lives to that event, and yet we were still coming to work, and still trying to do everything we were supposed to do. The teachers shifting from in-class teaching to online learning in a week, that was nuts,” said Dr. Haglund.
Teacher Negotiations
After making it through the global pandemic, Haglund was faced with a new challenge: navigating the PUSD Teacher negotiations.
“The most recent [challenge] was the negotiations with the teachers this year, that’s been heart wrenching, and disappointing that it went the way that it went…All the years of working on building relationships with teachers and trying to build that community and positive culture, to just watched it peel away when something negative happens. That will be the one memory that I regret. I wish it could’ve gone differently. I’m glad there was a resolution, but sad to see the continuing impact of the anger.”
Nevertheless, Dr. Haglund worked from the very beginning to establish a connection within PUSD, as well as to work to improve current situations.
“When I came into the district, the lack of trust, and lack of transparency in the community were huge. When [the district] talked to me about the job, those were the things they wanted me to focus on. So that was a primary focus in the beginning. But there were also other things that I found when I got here,” said Dr. Haglund.
Some of Dr. Haglund’s greatest achievements have been restoring and improving campus buildings around the district. He has set into motion many plans to rebuild parts of different campuses, but the one he is most passionate about is Village High School.
“I walked into those classrooms that the students were in and I saw beams that were hanging off the ceiling. This is not okay. You can’t sit in a building that’s not earthquake safe. That’s not appropriate. So I had to wrestle with the community about whether it was worth it or not to spend money to rebuild a school for ‘those kids’. So I’m just really grateful that the community ultimately supported it, and when it comes, I’m looking forward to being able to come back and walk that campus once those kids are finally learning in an environment that any kid deserves,” said Dr. Haglund.
As Dr. Haglund steps away from his role as PUSD Superintendent, he takes into account how he will be remembered during his seven years in this position. With his constant involvement and support for all aspects of the community, he is confident that memories of him will be positive.
“Ultimately, the legacy that I care about is the way that students will remember me and my ability to interact and support them…The physical legacy [is] the new athletic fields at the middle schools, the new construction at Vintage Hills, the new educational option center. Those are things that i think people will attach some kind of memory of me to,” said Dr. Haglund. “I’ll be known as somebody who showed up.”
