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Superintendent Steve Enoch didn't go looking for a new job after announcing his retirement from the San Ramon Valley Unified School district; the job went looking for him.

That's according to Terry Koehne, the district's community relations director.

"He announced his retirement here with the full intention of retiring come June 30," Koehne said.

What happened is the search firm for the Seattle School District learned of Enoch's retirement plan, Koehne said, adding that search company "contacted him about this position and convinced him to throw his hat in the ring."

"I know there are many challenges he has the energy for and one of them is urban education. He took quite a bit of time reflecting on whether to do this and he elected to do it," Koehne said. "He fully intended on retiring. He had talked about doing some consulting after he retired...I think this piqued his interest."

Enoch is one of three finalists and is headed to Seattle next week.

Meanwhile, San Ramon Valley Unified has hired a search firm of its own and has begun looking for candidates to replace Enoch.

"We've got all our ducks in a row. The next step is a series of forums," Koehne said.

That includes focus groups open to teachers and administrators. One open forum has been set for April 26 from 7 to 8:15 p.m. at the district's office, at 699 Old Orchard Drive in Danville.

SRVUSD is also holding a series of 30-minute sessions with stakeholder groups, such as PTAs, and has a survey out for parents, all to learn what each group wants in the district's next superintendent.

Koehne said the district has been fortunate to have had Enoch at the helm over the last four years. During that time, the SRVUSD has struggled with state budget problems and began to integrate 21-century learning into classrooms.

Published reports say Enoch's retirement after a 32-year career in education would be about $101,000 a year.

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