WESTMINSTER SCHOOL DISTRICT headquarters (OC Tribune photo).

By Jim Tortolano/Orange County Tribune

Gunn Marie Hansen has been hired to be the next superintendent of the Westminster School District.

The WSD Board of Trustees voted 5-0 on Thursday to make her the top administrator of the 10,000-pupil K-8 district that serves most of Westminster as well as portions of adjoining communities.

GUNN MARIE HANSEN, new Westminster School District superintendent (WSD photo).

“I am incredibly honored … and I look forward to collaborating with the board of education and the entire community of learners to continue to accelerate achievement and develop state-of-the-art programs for students,” she said in a statement.

She comes to the WSD after being fired from a similar post with the Orange Unified School District. On Jan. 5, the OUSD Board of Education voted 4-3 to oust Hanson without a stated reason.

A new conservative majority focusing on the issues of “parents’ rights,” ethnic studies and sex education took over the board after the November 2022 elections. Also fired was Cathleen Corella, assistant superintendent of education.

The WSD has not been without its own controversies. The previous superintendent was hired twice and departed twice. Cynthia Paik was hired in June 2017 and fired four months later. Two interim superintendents followed until Paik was rehired in April 2019. She resigned on November 2022 “for personal reasons.”

Richard Tauer served as superintendent from 2010 before being fired in 2013. His successor, Kim Phelps, left after three-and-a half years for a position in San Diego County.

All told, the WSD has had seven superintendents in 13 years.