Q&A with Superintendent Stefan Bean

We get to know the new Orange County superintendent of schools.

The Orange County Board of Education recently appointed longtime educator Stefan Bean as Orange County’s 12th superintendent of schools.

Bean is completing the rest of former Superintendent Al Mijares’ term, which ends in January 2027. Mijares announced in April that he would step down on June 30 after more than a decade in the role because of health issues.

Bean served as the executive director of the Irvine International Academy from July 2022 through June 2024. Before this, he worked for Aspire Public Schools in Los Angeles for almost 12 years, as lead principal, associate superintendent and area superintendent. He has a bachelor’s degree from the University of Southern California, a master’s degree in educational leadership from Loyola Marymount University and a doctorate in educational administration from California State University, Fullerton.

Parenting OC: Can you share your story about your upbringing?

Stefan Bean: I was born in Saigon during the Vietnam War, where I contracted polio at age 2 and was later abandoned. I was brought to the United States as part of Operation Babylift and  entered the foster system, where I was eventually adopted by the Bean family when I was 10 years old.

In our household, I grew up with a total of 11 siblings — two were natural children of my adoptive parents and the rest of us were adopted, many from foster care backgrounds. Over the years, our home became a sanctuary for over 150 foster children, reflecting a wide spectrum of needs and challenges, from cerebral palsy to autism. Ten were permanently adopted into our family. Tragically, one child who was adopted had suffered from severe injuries at the hands of his biological parents, and he passed away at 2 years old. We called him Baby Arthur.

POC: How did this impact your decision to become an educator and your educational pursuits?

SB: Growing up in a large and diverse family fundamentally shaped who I am today. My mother showed endless warmth and compassion, especially for the most vulnerable, and my father, a sixth-grade teacher, supported our family on a single salary. He instilled in us the importance of education as a means to overcome any challenges. That combination of my mother’s care and my father’s emphasis on education not only shaped my view of the world but also molded me into the educator and person I am today. These foundational experiences deeply influenced my commitment to support and empower every student in our educational system.

POC: What are some of your educational passions?

SB: My educational passions are rooted in the belief that every child deserves the opportunity to succeed, regardless of their background or abilities. I am committed to empowering every student within the educational system, from the most gifted to the most vulnerable — and everyone in between. My heart is especially with English learners, students with disabilities, those from low socioeconomic backgrounds and homeless youth. These are groups I knew and experienced growing up and that I identify with now as a single father. These students have faced more challenges than others, but they exemplify how education can change lives when we partner collaboratively with families to help them succeed.

Secondly, over my 25-year career spanning roles from teacher to principal to superintendent, I’ve observed that the most successful schools and districts are those led by individuals who possess high emotional intelligence. They are relational, inclusive and skilled at involving others in decision-making. This observation led me to write my dissertation on emotional intelligent leadership. Understanding my own emotions and reading others’ helps me navigate challenges and build on successes effectively. This is why I am driven to develop educational leaders who can employ an empathetic, emotionally intelligent leadership style, enhancing the educational environment for students and staff alike.

POC: What have you learned from your previous positions that will help guide you as superintendent?

SB: As I’ve emphasized, emotional intelligence is critical in leadership. But it’s also paramount that we engage the people most affected by our decisions in the decision-making process itself. This involvement ensures that our actions are not just based on data or assumptions but are directly informed by the needs and insights of those impacted. Engaging our partners in these conversations helps us to understand their perspectives, turning these dialogues into one of the most valuable data sets we have. This approach will guide my tenure as superintendent, ensuring that our work is deeply aligned with the community’s needs.

POC: What is your vision for the Orange County educational landscape for the 2024-25 school year and beyond?

SB: Throughout my career, I have always felt a deep connection to the needs of students, particularly through my personal experiences as an English-language learner and a student with a disability. My vision for Orange County schools is founded on the principle of unleashing every student’s potential through an inclusive and rigorous education. This approach is rooted in empathy and emphasizes the importance of 21st-century competencies, including STEAM — that’s science, technology, engineering, the arts and mathematics — which are critical for navigating and thriving in a complex, global society. By integrating these elements, we want to prepare our students not just for academic success but also to become resilient and innovative leaders.

POC: Are there any priorities or goals you wish to accomplish for the 2024-25 school year?

SB: My primary goal for the next year is to continue evaluating the strengths and assets we have at the Orange County Department of Education. OCDE has been a highly impactful part of our community for over a hundred years. As I visit different areas, I see the positive effects of our work. My objective is to continue the partnerships and programs that benefit the students in Orange County, and also find ways to extend these benefits across the state. These programs can have far-reaching positive benefits to educational environments in other counties and even beyond.

Broadly speaking, I want to uplift programs that are truly beneficial for our students. So for the next year, it is really about engaging in those relationships, leaning into them and developing new partnerships. I will also work with ACCESS to ensure that our school district — we consider it the 29th district — is the best it can be. My focus will be on really engaging with the community, both internally and externally, and working with the Orange County Board of Education to ensure all partners are informed. We will prioritize transparency, collaboration and inclusiveness in all our efforts.

POC: Education continues to work to return to a sense of balance following the pandemic, including mental health support. Do you have any plans in mind to deal with these challenges?

SB: First and foremost, I want to thoroughly understand what we are currently doing in terms of support. Our Educational Services division is specifically focused on addressing these issues through our MTSS work with schools and districts, as well as providing direct mental health support services. The California Multi-Tiered System of Support is a framework for delivering interventions and supports at multiple levels. I plan to dive deeper into these efforts to assess and identify various effective ways to enhance mental health support, recognizing that each student is unique and might need different approaches.

We know the trauma experienced by our students during the pandemic has led to significant learning gaps. Addressing these gaps is crucial, and our ongoing support for learning recovery is a priority. I believe there are multiple ways to approach mental health support and recovery, and I am committed to exploring all possible avenues.

It’s crucial that students not only receive support but also actively participate in shaping it. They need to know that there are adults who are not just providing help but are also listening to what they have to say. Engaging students means involving them directly in conversations about their education and well-being. Recently, I met with a high school senior who serves as the student representative on his school board. His insights and the dialogue we shared were incredibly valuable. He, like many students, is eager to contribute to our understanding of their experiences, which in turn informs how we can better connect their abilities and interests to their school environment.

POC: AI has been another big theme in schools. What are your thoughts on the potential impacts of AI and how you see it in the future for OC education?

SB: Like with any new technology, it’s important to be methodical and research-driven in our approach. We need to thoroughly understand it and its potential implications. My view is that while AI is a significant tool that has the potential to help prepare our students to be competitive in a technology-driven world, we must ensure it contributes positively toward our goal of leading the nation in college and career readiness.

Along those lines, it’s essential that we use AI as a tool to enhance — not replace — the critical thinking skills of our students. They need to be at the center of decision-making processes, using AI to make informed decisions rather than relying on it to make decisions for them. This careful balance will allow us to leverage AI’s benefits while ensuring that our educational mission remains focused on developing students’ abilities to think critically and engage deeply with content.

POC: You have a lot of experience with language immersion programs. Do you have any goals for the public school programs in OC?

SB: Sure. I want to uplift and celebrate these programs — and potentially even build learning communities to support them. Westminster has a great Vietnamese dual immersion, Irvine has Mandarin and then we have others that offer Spanish. These schools face challenges that a traditional school may not have, such as ensuring they have enough teachers who can teach Vietnamese and whether they have the credentials to teach both Vietnamese and English. It would be great to create a consortium where these dual immersion schools can share their best practices with one another. That’s one of my visions.

Orange County is very diversified, truly a melting pot. We have so many different prominent ethnicities — the Vietnamese community, Korean community, Arabic community, Chinese community, Latin community — and all these cultures have great strengths to contribute to education and to help our students grow.

By Jessica Peralta