Medea Creek Middle School Principal Brad Benioff is changing positions starting July 1. Benioff has been the principal at MCMS for the last 13 years.

He will become OPUSD’s new Director of Student Support and School Safety as current director, Stewart McGugan, will be taking over Dr. Leslie Heillbron’s position as Superintendent of Human Resources. Heilbron will retire at the end of the year.

Benioff has been working with kids since 1990 when he was a social science teacher at Fillmore High School and Agoura High School. Benioff then went to Thousand Oaks High School as the Dean of Students and later became an assistant principal for both Agoura High School and Sycamore Canyon School.

Benioff’s move will be a transition for the middle school as they will be working with a new principal next year.

The district has already started to look for a new principal with help from staff and parents. The district hopes to announce the new principal by spring.

Benioff is extremely excited and ready for this new transition even though it was a hard decision to make.

“It’s incredibly hard to leave Medea after 13 years. You hear platitudes of ‘this is home and family’ and it really is here,” Benioff said. “Being able to help out on a district-wide level was just too good to pass up and I just never want to leave this district.”

The staff at MCMS is sad to see Mr. Benioff leave but also happy for his new chapter in life.

Dianne Large, a counselor at MCMS, who has been there with Mr. Benioff since the beginning has mixed feelings about him leaving.

“Mr. Benioff and I started together and he is an amazing principal and amazing administrator. I am definitely going to miss working with him and I am happy for him as well because he is going to be doing wonderful things for the school,” Large said.

Large agrees with Benioff when he says how Medea is like a family.

“He has done amazing things with our school and he’s made us the family that we are, Large said. “We’re all so proud to be part of the Medea Creek family and he was part of leading that.”

Benioff was offered this position in early December but needed some time to think about it.

“When Mr. McGugan was appointed to Human Resources they approached me to see if I was interested,” Benioff said. “A big part of me thought I would be here until I retired but there are opportunities and change — that is often good.”