After months of scrutiny surrounding special education services in the Inglewood Unified School District, officials are moving closer to hiring a new executive director to oversee the department.
The district posted an available executive director position in April and the new administrator will be announced this month, according to James Morris, the county administrator.
“The challenge with special education is really establishing processes and procedures,” Morris told The LA Local. ”It’s 90% of being responsive to parents and that’s what we’re working really hard on getting better at.”
The new hire will replace Latonya Southall, who has served as executive director since 2024. The LA Local requested comment from Southall, who responded “no comment” in an email.
The leadership transition comes amid concerns raised by parents over delayed assessments, communication issues and missing services. The new special education executive director will be tasked with rebuilding trust with families while improving efficiency and accountability in a department that has faced criticism over responsiveness, student support services and staff negligence.
“We’re going to need someone who understands that they’ll need a team to reform the department,” said John Hughes, Inglewood special education program specialist.
Morris said the selection process for the new executive director included input from a panel of approximately 13 to 15 participants made up of parents, teachers and classified employees, reflecting the district’s effort to involve stakeholders directly impacted by special education services.
“We did final candidate interviews on Monday and after we select the finalist, we will do extensive reference checks,” Morris said.
The executive director oversees special education programs and services for students with disabilities throughout the district, including compliance with state and federal special education laws, Hughes explained.
He said the next administrator should not shy away from difficult conversations about the department’s ongoing challenges, adding that “the new executive director must be willing to communicate openly with the school board and advocate for improvements when problems arise.”
Morris said the department is already working to improve how staff respond to parents and students’ needs, including answering parent questions in a timely manner, quicker responses to assessments and scheduling Individualized Education Plan meetings.
“As long as the person understands that they’ll need to empower the administrators with information and put the tools in place to execute, we can improve,” Hughes said.
