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By Jorge Casuso

May 30 -- Superintendent Dianne Talarico officially announced Friday that she will be leaving the Santa Monica-Malibu Unified School District to head a school system in Northern California.

The announcement came after the Burlingame School District Board of Trustees voted Friday morning to approve a three-year contract for Talarico, who has been Superintendent of the local district for two years. Her resignation is effective July 1.

“I congratulate her on her new job,” said School Board President Oscar de la Torre, “and I thank her for assisting and thank her for assisting in laying the groundwork for a more inclusive School District, one that values a higher level of accountability and transparency, which is our goal.”

Officials at the 2,400-student district, whose schools reportedly rank among the best in California State Testing scores, welcomed the new superintendent.

“We are very pleased and excited to welcome Dianne to the Burlingame School District,” Michael Barber, president of the Burlingame Board of Trustees said in a statement. “The board and members of the school community are looking forward to working with her as we all work to advance the best interests of the Burlingame students.”

A consultant has been hired to find an interim superintendent to replace Talarico by the time she leaves, or at the latest, during July, District officials said.

“We want a process that will allow for a higher degree of community input and we want that process to continue in the search for a full-time superintendent,” de la Torre said.

Talarico has said the move north allows her to be with her husband, who teaches in Northern California.

“For two and a half years we haven’t been together,” she told The Lookout last week. “I have to have a balance of a personal and professional life.”

Talarico’s departure would mark the second time a top administrator leaves as the 2008 school year nears an end.

Deputy Superintendent Tim Walker, who is at the center of a firestorm over special education settlement agreements, resigned his post under a settlement with the District approved by the School Board on May 1. ("Walker Resigns Post Amidst Special Ed Controversy," May 2, 2008)