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    Orange Unified selects Rachel Monárrez for its new superintendent
    • April 29, 2025

    Dr. Rachel H. Monárrez has been selected to lead Orange Unified School District as its new superintendent.

    Although Monárrez was most recently serving as the superintendent of the Worcester Public Schools in Massachusetts, she has ties to Southern California. She is the former San Bernardino City Unified School District deputy superintendent and has experience as a special education and English immersion instructor, principal and in other leadership positions in California schools.

    Related: Orange Unified Superintendent Ernie Gonzalez steps down from role

    Monárrez will need final approval by the OUSD board, which plans to meet and vote on her contract on May 7. If approved, she will take over the role on July 1.

    “We are thrilled to welcome Dr. Monárrez into the Orange Unified family,” OUSD Board President Kris Erickson said in a statement. “Her proven track record of fostering inclusive, high-achieving school communities aligns perfectly with our district’s mission and values.”

    In Worcester Public Schools, Monárrez created the district’s five-year plan, fostered better communication between parents and the district, and created new positions to encourage less punitive approaches to student discipline, the Worcester Telegram & Gazette reported.

    Monárrez was also involved in Worcester Public Schools joining a lawsuit with several other school districts challenging the Trump administration’s efforts to dismantle the federal Department of Education. (Worcester Public Schools joined as a declarant, not a plaintiff, according to the Telegram & Gazette.)

    “Simply put, dismantling the DOE, or Department of Education, directly threatens the critical services we provide to our 25,000 students, along with millions of dollars in funding,” Monárrez said in a video about the lawsuit, alongside Worcester Mayor Joseph M. Petty. Monárrez highlighted federal services that provide nutrition for students or help students with disabilities in her argument against the administration’s efforts to eliminate the department.

    Monárrez was hired by Worcester Public Schools in June 2022. She said the decision to step down from that position and return to California was a personal one that involved her family.

    “She had a huge impact on the schools,” Petty, Worcester’s mayor, told the Telegram & Gazette. “I always found her to be very thoughtful, astute and honest, and someone that I could trust.”

    Monárrez pointed to the five-year strategic plan as her most significant impact for the district, but said she is also proud of opening up communication between families and the district.

    Monárrez is bilingual and holds a doctorate in urban education and a master’s in education from Claremont Graduate University. She is an alumna of UC Irvine.

    “I am grateful to the OUSD Board of Education for the opportunity to lead this phenomenal community,” Monárrez said in an OUSD news release. “I look forward to meeting our scholars, staff and families and learning about the amazing opportunities available throughout Orange Unified. Together we will continue to inspire our learners of today to be purposeful leaders of tomorrow.”

    Should her contract be approved next month, Monárrez would be the latest in a string of recent superintendents for OUSD.

    Ernie Gonzalez stepped down from the position late last year after serving in the role for a little over a year. He had replaced Edward Velasquez, who was interim superintendent for about a month. Velasquez had replaced Gunn Marie Hansen, who was fired by the board in January 2023, before students came back from winter break.

    The controversial firing of Hansen led to a successful recall effort of two OUSD board members in March 2024. Those two board members had initially run for their positions as part of a candidate slate that promised to support charter schools and operate independently from teachers’ unions.

    The two board members picked to fill the positions left vacant from the recall effort maintained their seats in the subsequent November elections.

    OUSD serves about 26,000 students in Orange, Villa Park, Anaheim, Garden Grove and Santa Ana, along with unincorporated areas of Orange County, according to the district.

    ​ Orange County Register 

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