Legendary educator and administrator will step down from the LAUSD Board of Education in December 2024.
A gala celebration is planned in honor of Dr. George McKenna III, who will retire in December after amassing a stellar career as an education and administrator.
McKenna has served more than 50 years with LAUSD including a decade on the L.A. Unified Board of Education. In this capacity, he represented District 1, which District 1 encompasses 20 neighborhoods in South Los Angeles and the Westside.
Sherlett Hendy-Newbill, an educator, coach, and endorsed by McKenna, was elected on Nov. 5 to succeed him on the L.A. Unified Board of Education.
“It has been the honor of my life to serve on the board of education. I am and will always be an educator. I never asked to be a politician and was elected reluctantly due to the unfortunate passing of my friend, Marguerite LaMotte,” said McKenna last year in an exclusive interview with the Sentinel.
“I ran because my community asked, and I simply answered the call to serve as a way to continue my commitment to educating students. I have been able to make a difference in some ways, and not as much as I would like in others,” he noted.
“It is time for me to move on and allow the next person to advance the work of representing the students and families of District 1. I remain grateful to the voters, supporters, educators, students (current and former) who placed their confidence in me to represent them on the Board.”
His retirement celebration will be held on Sunday, Nov. 17, at 11 a.m., at the Sheraton Grand Hotel, 711 S. Hope St., in downtown Los Angeles. Wendy Raquel Robinson will serve as emcee and the co-hosts are Yolanda “YoYo” Whitaker and Dr. Dechell Byrd. Proceeds will benefit the California Student Achievement Foundation (C-SAF).
C-SAF, a nonprofit organization, was founded by Dr. McKenna in 2015 to empower underserved children to achieve lifelong success. According to its website, “Dr. McKenna intent is for C-SAF to provide leadership and scholarships to public high school graduating seniors desiring to achieve higher educational degrees.”
The board member has had a storied career in the Los Angeles Unified School District as a math teacher, dean, assistant principal, principal and local district superintendent of Local Area 7. He has worked in schools across the District including Jordan High School, Foshay Learning Center, Cochran Middle School, and Dorsey High School.
As principal of Washington Preparatory High School from 1978-1988, he experienced such significant accomplishments that Hollywood created a movie about him with Denzel Washington playing McKenna. His successes included raising student achievement, strengthening parent and community involvement, launching a peer counseling program among students, and growing the school enrollment from 1,200 to over 2,800 during his tenure.
During his tenure on the LAUSD Board, he developed historic community partnerships that led to all LAUSD students receiving TAP cards District wide after the pilot that originated in District 1 via the South Los Angeles Transit Empowerment Zone (SLATE-Z), Fender Play Foundation introducing their suite of educational programming for students which led to the development and passing of Proposition 28 in 2022 that now provides statewide funding for Arts education, and passed legislation to expand opportunities for small and micro businesses to contract with LAUSD.
Previously, Dr. McKenna served as a superintendent in Inglewood Unified, deputy superintendent in Compton Unified, as well as an assistant superintendent in the Pasadena Unified School District.
The public is invited to attend the retirement celebration and scholarship fundraiser. Visit www.c-saf.org for information on tickets, sponsorships, and donations.
