SBCSS News and Press Releases

County Superintendent Fischer Announces His Retirement

2008-07-01

SAN BERNARDINO - County Schools Superintendent Herbert Fischer announced today that he would retire from the county's top education post effective Aug. 30. Fischer has served as San Bernardino County Superintendent of Schools since November 1998. He ran unopposed in his last two bids for the county's lead educational seat. Fischer's 39-year career in education has been solely in San Bernardino County.

Fischer delivered his announcement to County Schools' employees at a staff meeting earlier today. "It has been a privilege to work with all of you to serve students, parents, and educators throughout the county. You are a committed, hard-working and loyal staff who truly put the needs of the 428,000 students in the county first and foremost," he said.

Under Fischer's leadership, the County Schools office has supported district efforts to improve student achievement and meet state and federal academic performance targets by bringing national experts in school reform to the county and providing additional support to low performing schools. Schools countywide consistently have seen gains above state averages on accountability benchmarks. The countywide API average saw seven consecutive years of growth.

Also during Fischer's tenure, the County Schools' office joined forces with business and labor leaders and community and faith-based organizations to establish the Alliance for Education. State Superintendent of Public Instruction Jack O'Connell has touted the countywide collaborative to produce a higher skilled, higher educated workforce as a model for his statewide P-16 Council.

Permanent school housing for students served in County Schools' operated programs was a priority for Fischer. During his administration, the office constructed its first permanent school site, Dorothy Gibson County High School in Ontario. Five additional new schools have been constructed to date to improve housing for the 6,000-plus special and alternative education students served in county classrooms.

"I am extremely proud of the accomplishments of County Office staff, our district administrators, teachers and support staff, and our Alliance and association partners," Fischer said. "Working together, we have made great strides to improve public education for students in San Bernardino County. There are many more milestones to reach, but I am confident the triumphs we have made will be sustained and future successes will be realized."

Prior to serving as county superintendent, Fischer was superintendent of the Colton Joint Unified School District for seven years, and served as a classroom teacher, principal and district administrator in the San Bernardino City Unified School District for 22 years.

The county superintendent is the chief executive officer of the San Bernardino County Superintendent Schools office, which has an annual operating budget of $350 million. With a staff of more than 2,300 employees, the County Superintendent of Schools office provides support to 33 school districts for grades K-12 and roughly 428,000 students attending more than 500 schools in the county. Services provided by the County Schools office include curriculum and instruction; accountability and assessment; business and financial; human resources and credentials; and management information support to school districts countywide. The office also operates classrooms for alternative and special education, state preschool and Regional Occupational Programs.

Download Dr. Fischer's photo file - 508k jpeg