Dr Ron Kadish, Interim Chief for Two Years

This is a quick introduction to Dr Ron Kadish for those in the CSDR community who don’t know him. He was a state level administrator from the state Department of Education to oversee the CSD at Fremont and Riverside. He assumed a temporary role as Superintendent at CSDR twice to keep the school running while seeking a qualified candidate to fill the shoes from the previous superintendent. Kadish sat in the Superintendent office for almost two years. He deserves a place in our heart for his sacrifice and leadership in our best interest.

Kadish was born in Los Angeles and lived there before relocating to Sacramento in 1995. He earned his Bachelor of Science degree at UCLA in 1971 and his Master of Science from USC in 1972. He was offered a full fellowship to pursue his doctoral studies at USC. He earned his Ph.D in special education with a minor in educational psychology and communication disorders.

The Ph.D program required proficiency in two languages other than English. Dr Kadish was fluent in French and petitioned the Dean of Education to consider American Sign Language an acceptable foreign language. At that time, USC was affiliated with the John Tracy Clinic, where Dr Kadish also studied. Because the John Tracy clinic was strictly oral, the Dean of Education refused to accept ASL as a foreign language. This was when Dr Kadish began studying the linguistic components of ASL, Deaf culture and the origins of Deaf education in schools. He soon became aware of the controversies within Deaf education regarding various modes of communication.

After completing his doctoral studies, Dr Kadish went back to the classroom and taught children with severe emotional disturbances and learning disabilities. He then worked at the California Department of Education’s Diagnostic Center in Los Angeles, performing educational assessments on students with complex and challenging learning and behavioral difficulties.

Kadish was later allowed to serve as the Superintendent at the Diagnostic Center in Los Angeles and then for all three Diagnostic Centers (Los Angeles, Fresno and Fremont). During his time, Kadish co-authored the “Ordinal Scales of Development,” a nonstandardized assessment tool based on Jean Piaget's constructs. He also edited a publication entitled “Positive Intervention for Serious Behavior Problems.” Later, he chaired and organized several statewide conferences for educators working with students having severe emotional disturbances.

Dr Kadish was selected as the Director of State Special Schools in 1995 and remained there for 17 years until his retirement. During these years, he served twice as the interim Superintendent at CSDR: for one year following Dr Ken Randall’s tenure and again for nine months following Dr Rachel Stone’s employment.

These were tumultuous times at CSDR when staff and parents often disagreed with the decisions affecting Dr Stone’s departure. Unfortunately, issues also surfaced between Deaf and hearing staff. Kadish worked closely with all staff to learn more about these issues and sought recommendations to improve the climate on the CSDR campus. He then helped to resurrect the Community Advisory Committee to improve communications and offer parents and staff opportunities to work with the Superintendent on various matters.

Kadish also worked with his Sacramento-based staff to develop plans to upgrade many old buildings at CSDR and to obtain funding to construct new classrooms and dormitories.

During these years, Kadish conducted two national searches for a Superintendent at CSDR and once at CSD-Fremont following Dr Klopping’s retirement. He recruited and selected members from the Deaf community, parents and school staff to participate in panel interviews of the candidates who applied for School Superintendent.

While Director of the State Special Schools, Kadish oversaw the development of the California Advisory Task Force on Deaf and Hard of Hearing Education, which Sheri Farinha Mutti chaired. The task force worked tirelessly to prepare a document entitled “Communication Access and Quality Education for Deaf and Hard of Hearing Children.”

During his tenure, Kadish vigorously fought with the Department of Finance and testified annually at the state legislature for adequate funding for the State Special Schools. He developed open communications with state control agencies that challenged rising student costs at the three State Special Schools. When the state special schools started losing teachers due to competing salaries in local school districts, he worked closely with the Department of Personnel Administration to afford higher salary packages to teachers, administrators and dormitory staff.

When Dr Kadish retired, the California Department of Education (CDE) asked him to return and conduct investigations and personnel hearings on employees across the state who had acted improperly during their employment. He continued in this capacity until he had a stroke in 2021.

Although Kadish no longer has job responsibility for CSDR, he wore red T-shirt spelling out “Riverside” for his 75th birthday. He had a double treat on his plate.

Kadish currently lives outside of Sacramento, where he enjoys life with his wife, Sheryl. They recently celebrated their 53rd wedding anniversary. He is close to his daughter, Erika, a teacher, and his son, Jeremy, an emergency room physician. He loves having his 11-year-old twin grandson and granddaughter visit and share their artwork, musical talents and athletic achievements. They love playing with his two dogs, Charlie (a 16-year-old deaf rescue dog) and Bella (a 5-month-old Cavalier King Charles Spaniel).

Kadish stands on the top row on the right. His future wife, Sheryl, stands on the ground on the left. They met in Kindergarten in 1955.

Kadish enjoys reading the CSDR Old Times and recognizes some people mentioned in the articles he worked with previously.

In closing, it is important for me to remind my readers that Dr Ron Kadish is an unsung hero for many things he did for CSDR. If I have to mention one example of his extraordinary leadership, he was instrumental for bringing millions and millions of dollars from Sacramento to Riverside for modernizing the infrastructure and constructing new buildings like cottages. We all rise and salute Dr Kadish for keeping CSDR modern and beautiful among his other contributions.

Kevin Struxness, ‘76, MA

Editor, CSDR Old Times

November 18, 2024