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South Whittier board highlights community-led search, introduces incoming superintendent Dr. Greg Gero
Summary
Board President Dr. Natalia Barajas described a community-driven search and said Dr. Greg Gero, a bilingual leader with decades of K–12 experience, will begin as South Whittier superintendent on July 1. The board emphasized his instructional and fiscal track record.
The South Whittier School District board announced that Dr. Greg Gero will begin as the district's superintendent on July 1, following a months-long, community-engaged search. Board President Dr. Natalia Barajas told attendees that parents, staff and nearly 300 students helped shape the leadership profile the board used to select the candidate.
"Your voice built the leadership profile, and that profile became the standard every candidate was measured against," Barajas said, summarizing the district's outreach in English and Spanish. She said the community emphasized pride in the district, trust in visible leadership, and the need to protect and strengthen programs such as dual immersion and special education supports.
Barajas outlined Gero's background: more than three decades as a classroom teacher, elementary principal and district leader; bilingual fluency in Spanish; turnaround work at 10th Street Elementary in Los Angeles that helped the school earn California Gold Ribbon recognition; and service in Monrovia Unified where he led districtwide math improvement and helped grow a dual-immersion pathway. She added that, in Monrovia, Gero served as assistant superintendent of business services and helped reduce that district's budget deficit by more than half.
The board did not vote on Gero's contract at this meeting; Barajas said the board approved the contract at an earlier meeting and that Gero will begin meeting students, families and staff before the new school year. The announcement closed with thanks to outgoing Superintendent Dr. Gary Gonzales for his years of service and a request that the community welcome Gero.
