Debra Duardo is the Director of Pupil Services for the Los Angeles Unified School District and a member of the National Dropout Prevention Network Board. Duardo's unique life experience as a high school dropout to Director of Pupil Serviices drives her passion to support at-risk students and their families on the path to educational success.

 

In her role as the Director of Pupil Services for the second largest school District in the country, she is responsible for the implementation of a comprehensive plan aimed at reducing the District's high school dropout rate. Duardo's vision for her work is simple: to increase the number of LAUSD students who earn a diploma.

 

“When I was fifteen and about to drop out, I wish someone had been there to help explain what school is all about, and how much a diploma would mean to my future,” said Duardo. “That experience informs my work every day – I want to make sure every at risk student in our district has the opportunity I never had.”

 

To that end, she initiated a number of programs designed to reach at-risk students, including hiring and training 80 Diploma Project Advisers to work within struggling schools to support at-risk students and increase efforts to bring drop-outs back to the classroom. She is also spearheading programs to provide recovered dropouts with more flexible options to obtain their diploma.

 

Duardo began her career with LAUSD as a Pupil Services and Attendance Counselor, where she worked directly with school dropouts and underperforming students. She has worked extensively within the LAUSD designing, implementing and evaluating dropout prevention and recovery programs.

 

Prior to working with LAUSD, she served as an administrator for the Los Angeles Commission on Assaults Against Women (LACAAW), where she was responsible for programs directly related to students who have experienced violence, traumas, and/or sexual abuse.

 

The daughter of Mexican immigrants, Duardo dropped out of Hollywood High School at age 15. At 16 she had her first child and by age 25 she had four children. She was inspired to go back to school and finish her education after giving birth to a child with a severe disability. For ten years, Duardo worked and attended community college to finish her high school requirements and complete the first two years of college. She then transferred to UCLA, where she went on to earn a Masters in School Social Work.