Head of Pasadena’s Human Services and Recreation Department Departs, Heads to School District

Mercy Santoro will help lead Pasadena Unified School District in her newly announced position as the Associate Superintendent for School Support Services.

Leaving her position as the head of Human Services and Recreation with the City of Pasadena, Santoro said at last night’s board meeting she looks forward to serving the youth of the city in a new capacity.

“Mercy has been an invaluable partner to PUSD over the past several years as we’ve worked on our City’s School District Partnership. She was instrumental in developing the collaborate Pasadena,” Dr. Shawn Bird said in his announcement comments at the meeting. “I can tell you first hand she has a heart for under served youths.”

Santoro said she would leverage her contacts in the City government to establish more connections for shared work.

Her contract with the district that was signed into effect Thursday night will be fromAugust 10, 2015 through August 9, 2017 with a salary of $173,000.

“The work we have and the opportunity to serve young people and families is something I am so proud to be able to stand behind,” Santoro said to the PUSD board of Education.

With Santoro leaving the City of Pasadena, she widens an already large gap in permanent supervisors of now three large departments. The City currently does not heads of the Finance Department, Public Works, and now Human Services and Recreation.