District Admin Structure — Peer Benchmark

Headcount map

Where peers place their positions.

Cells = count of listed positions

Position count by functional area

	Educational Services	Student Services	Human Resources	Business	Other
Chaffey22,680 students	4	5	6	3	—
East Side Union20,471 students	1	n/a	1	1	—
Hart19,000 students	4	5	4	2	—
Grossmont16,566 students	8	n/a	3	n/a	—
Oxnard16,501 students	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	—
Huntington Beach14,104 students	6	n/a	3	2	—
Fullerton12,860 students	6	n/a	3	2	—
San Dieguito12,364 students	8	n/a	3	n/a	—
Perris11,973 students	7	n/a	3	n/a	—
Merced11,226 students	5	3	3	n/a	—
Whittier10,222 students	4	n/a	n/a	n/a	—
Fremont9,646 students	5	1	2	1	—
Santa Maria8,995 students	7	n/a	4	n/a	—
Escondido HSD8,916 students	1	n/a	2	1	—

0 1–3 4 5–6 7–8 Not reported

Size-normalized

Admin footprint per 1,000 students.

6 districts with fully catalogued structures

Listed positions per 1,000 students

Limited to districts where educational services, student services or equivalent, HR, and business were each populated in the source file. The narrow spread — under a quarter of a position per thousand students across six distinct org designs — is itself a finding.

Structural patterns

Two tier choices peers have already made.

Layer above Directors

6 of 14

Peer districts place a Deputy, Chief, or Executive Director between the Assistant Superintendent and the Directors beneath them.

Hart (Chief Officer, two functions), Merced (Deputy Superintendent, Executive Director MTSS), San Dieguito (two Executive Directors plus Senior Director), Huntington Beach (Executive Director, SPED), Santa Maria (Executive Director, Teaching and Learning), and Chaffey (Chief Fiscal Services Officer). The other eight run flat: Assistant Superintendent directly over Directors.

Layer below Directors

6 of 14

Peer districts name a Coordinator tier beneath Directors — usually for SPED, risk management, or assessment and data.

Hart (Coordinator, Risk Management), Fullerton (SPED and Educational Services Coordinators), Fremont (Coordinator, Assessment and Data), Merced (504 Coordinator, Risk Management Coordinator), Perris (two Coordinators, Learning Support), Santa Maria (Coordinator, SPED). Coordinators do the operational load behind compliance, data, and specialized programs.

Reference catalogue

Full peer structure, position by position.

Sorted by enrollment · scroll horizontally as needed

District	Educational Services	Student Services	Human Resources	Business
Chaffey22,680 · per org chart	Assistant Superintendent Executive Director, Research and Assessment Director, Categoricals Director, Instruction	Assistant Superintendent Director, Career Readiness Director, College Readiness Director, Safety and SROs Director, Adult Ed and Community Relations	Assistant Superintendent Director, HR Director, SPED Director, Benefits Director, Risk Management Director, Compliance, Resolution, Support	Assistant Superintendent Chief Fiscal Services Officer Usual Directors beneath
East Side Union20,471 · partial	Assistant Superintendent	not listed in source	Assistant Superintendent	Assistant Superintendent
Hart19,000	Assistant Superintendent, Educational Services Chief Officer, Educational Services Director, Curriculum and Assessment Director, Special Programs	Assistant Superintendent, Student Services Chief Officer, Student Services and Leadership Director, SPED Director, Guidance Wellness	Assistant Superintendent, HR Director, HR Director, Classified Coordinator, Risk Management	Assistant Superintendent, Business Usual Directors beneath
Grossmont16,566 · partial	Assistant Superintendent, Educational Services Director II, Assessment and State Programs Director I, College and Career Readiness Director, English Learners Director, Athletics Director II, SPED Director II, SPED Director I, SPED	not listed in source	Assistant Superintendent, HR Director I Director I	not listed in source
Oxnard16,501 · see org chart	see district org chart	see district org chart	see district org chart	see district org chart
Huntington Beach14,104	Assistant Superintendent, Educational Services Executive Director, SPED Director, Educational Services Director, Data, Research, Categoricals Director, Student Services Director, Tech and Info Services	rolled into Educational Services	Assistant Superintendent, HR Director, Classified Director, Certificated	Assistant Superintendent, Business Usual Directors beneath
Fullerton12,860	Assistant Superintendent, Education and Assessment Director, SPED Director, Student Services Director, Education and Assessment Coordinator, SPED Coordinator, Educational Services	rolled into Educational Services	Assistant Superintendent, HR Director, HR Director, Risk Management	Assistant Superintendent, Business Usual Directors beneath
San Dieguito12,364 · partial	Assistant Superintendent, Educational Services Executive Director, Educational Services Executive Director, Student Services Senior Director, SPED Director, Assessment and Accountability Director, CTE Director, Student Support Director, Student Information Systems	not listed in source	Assistant Superintendent, HR Director, HR Director, HR Classified	not listed in source
Perris11,973 · partial	Assistant Superintendent, Educational Services Two Directors, Learning Support Director, C and I Coordinator, Learning Support Coordinator, Learning Support Director, Pupil Services Director, SPED	not listed in source	Assistant Superintendent, HR Director, HR Director, Risk Management	not listed in source
Merced11,226	Deputy Superintendent, Educational Services Director, Information Technology Executive Director, MTSS Executive Director Various program administrators	Assistant Superintendent, Student Services 504 Coordinator Various program administrators	Director, HR Various technicians Coordinator, Risk Management	not listed in source
Whittier10,222 · partial	Assistant Superintendent, Educational Services Director, Assessment and Accountability Director, Categoricals Director, Professional Learning and Leadership	not listed in source	not listed in source	not listed in source
Fremont9,646	Assistant Superintendent, Teaching and Learning Director, Leadership Director, Educational and Specialized Services Director, Educational Options Coordinator, Assessment and Data	Assistant Superintendent, Administrative Services	Director, HR Certificated Director, HR Classified	Assistant Superintendent, Business
Santa Maria8,995 · partial	Assistant Superintendent, Educational Services Executive Director, Teaching and Learning Director, CTE Community Coordinator Director, Student Services Director, SPED Coordinator, SPED	not listed in source	Assistant Superintendent, HR Director, HR Director, HR Certificated Director, HR Classified	not listed in source
Escondido HSD8,916 · partial	Assistant Superintendent, Education	not listed in source	Assistant Superintendent, HR Director, HR	Assistant Superintendent, Business

Three patterns to weigh

What the peer scan suggests.

01

Student Services is the swing function.

Only four peers — Chaffey, Hart, Merced, and Fremont — staff Student Services as a distinct functional area with its own Assistant Superintendent. The other ten either roll it into Educational Services or leave it unlisted. The absence is a design choice, not an oversight.

Stand-alone · Chaffey, Hart, Merced, Fremont

02

SPED lives wherever leadership wants it.

Peers place SPED under Educational Services, Student Services, Human Resources, or as its own pillar. Grossmont runs four SPED directors inside Educational Services. Hart places SPED under Student Services. Chaffey runs it inside HR. The placement signals which function actually carries the load.

Four directors (Grossmont) · SPED in HR (Chaffey)

03

Coordinators carry the operational load.

Six of fourteen peers list a Coordinator tier beneath Directors — most commonly for SPED, risk management, and assessment or data. It is an unbundling choice: the Director owns the function, the Coordinator carries the compliance and data work beneath it. Districts without a Coordinator tier leave that work inside the Director role by default.

Coordinator tier · Hart, Fullerton, Fremont, Merced, Perris, Santa Maria

Discussion prompts

Questions to carry into the cabinet conversation.

Five questions the peer scan surfaces.

01

Where should Student Services sit in our next structure — as its own pillar, inside Educational Services, or split across both? Four peers treat it as its own function. Ten fold it elsewhere or leave it implicit. The answer shapes who leads MTSS, guidance, attendance, and wellness.

02

Are we operating at the density our peers cluster at — roughly 0.8 to 1.0 central positions per thousand students? Six peers with fully catalogued structures cluster in a narrow band. Under or over that range is a conversation, not a verdict.

03

Does our site-level work call for a Coordinator tier beneath Directors, as half of peers use? Coordinators carry operational load on SPED, risk, assessment, and data. If our Directors are currently doing that work themselves, the tier is an unbundling choice.

04

Where does SPED belong — and who is accountable for it to sites? Peer placement ranges from multiple directors inside Educational Services to a single director inside HR. Placement changes who sites call first.

05

What shape of central office best supports the site leaders we have — not the ones we used to have? The data here is structural. The site leader cohort is context. Any reorganization worth doing has to answer for both.