User Profile

Chief Executive Officer/Superintendent, Granada Hills Charter School (TK-12)

Brian Bauer is the CEO/Superintendent of Granada Hills Charter School, an independent public school located in the San Fernando Valley of Los Angeles. As CEO/Superintendent, Brian is responsible for the school’s instructional, operational, and financial programs that involve almost close to 6,000 TK-12 students, over 300 teachers and 200 classified employees, and $100 million in revenue. He oversees all of the school’s significant business and operational services, including payroll, general ledger, cafeteria, building and grounds, and human resources, all of which are handled in-house. Brian began his career at Granada as the School’s principal in 2000. While principal, Brian led the faculty and community through the politically charged process to become a fiscally independent conversion charter school in 2003. Brian began his teaching career in LAUSD in 1991 as an ESL, English, and Spanish teacher. He later serves as an assistant principal. He has worked as a leadership coach with six charter school leaders through the California Charter School Association (CCSA) and has advised the Los Angeles Mayor’s Partnership School Organization. Brian served on the California State Board's Advisory Commission on Charter Schools (ACCS) from 2008-2018 and as the ACCS chair since 2010. He has been president (since its founding in 2004) of the Special Education Improvement Authority for Los Angeles, a Joint Power Authority that includes the leading charter schools/organizations advocating higher quality special education options within the LAUSD and other state SELPAs. Brian currently is a member of the CCSA Board of Directors, Chair of the CEO Council of the LAUSD Charter Operated Programs for Special Education and was Chair of CCSA’s Member Council. In 2008, Brian was named California’s Charter Leader of the Year. He received his BA from Yale, an MA from CSUDH and UCLA, and is writing his PhD dissertation in education policy at UCLA. Between his teaching and school administration assignments, Brian spent almost three years in Colombia, South America as a Fulbright Scholar (1996-98), and during the 2007 summer, was on a special educational leadership project in Brazil under the auspices of the U.S. State Department and the Fulbright Association. Brian serves as a trustee on several education, community service, and family philanthropic boards, including Excellence in Education and Great Public Schools Now (GPSN). He presently resides in Los Angeles with his partner Stephen. In his ‘free’ time, Brian plays paddle tennis, paddle boards, and wind/kite surfs at the beach, is an avid traveler, and a vegan cook for friends and family. He is a Fellow of the 20th class - XXceptionals - of the Pahara-Aspen Education Fellowship and a member of the Aspen Global Leadership Network.