Eric Hall

By Nicole Krueger

Eric Hall has spent his entire career as a developer. He started in 1975 at San Diego Unified School District, working in various human resources roles and helping the district navigate collective bargaining and the implementation of Proposition 13.

In 1979, he became the director of classified personnel at San Dieguito Union High School District – at the time a small district with 150 classified employees and 3,500 students. When he retired in 2006, the district had grown to more than 1,500 classified employees and nearly 17,000 students. A sociology major with a master’s degree in public administration and an emphasis in city planning and urban government in his tool belt, he was well-equipped to guide San Dieguito’s growth as personnel director, and then as director of administrative services.

“It was right up my alley in terms of what I wanted to do in public administration,” says Hall, whose background in city planning taught him that growing a district is about more than just building new schools.

“We had to keep the district’s infrastructure and support departments robust enough to support enrollment growth. The district didn’t have facilities, planning or risk management departments, nor did it have robust business support services departments to serve the increased enrollment. Besides building schools, we were able to grow and build departments from the ground up.”

But it wasn’t just district growth he was interested in. He also developed a strong interest in helping people grow professionally.

“I didn’t know anything about school operations when I first went to work for schools,” says Hall, who joined CASBO in 1984 and ultimately became a chief business official. “I was fortunate to be in an organization that helped develop me. It’s very rewarding when you see people develop and you know you’ve had a bit to do with it. It’s a noble thing to be in a job where you can help people achieve their goals.”

After having served as the district’s CBO for 13 years and reaching the pinnacle of his career trajectory, Hall chose to retire and begin his next development project: starting a business. Together with his wife, he founded Eric Hall & Associates in 2006 to provide support for districts in facilities, budget and fiscal services, and human resources. For him, it was a means of nurturing not just one district, but districts statewide.

“From my leadership roles in CASBO and the Coalition for Adequate School Housing (CASH), I knew I had a passion for helping other districts,” he says. “Districts would call me to ask how we successfully built schools, how we obtained the funds, and how to build joint-use facilities. I thought it would be great to hang a shingle and help other districts.“

After growing his business to about 25 associates, many of whom are former school district administrators and staff, Hall decided it was time to retire. He merged Eric Hall & Associates with MGT of America in 2020 and has completed his role as transition adviser. He now serves as adviser emeritus and remains involved as a liaison to CASBO.

“It’s been a great ride, a great career,” he says. “What better job to have than improving the teaching and learning environment? Building schools, developing support departments, creating a culture of collaboration between departments and services in maintenance, purchasing, accounting, facilities, transportation, and food services, and keeping the district fiscally solvent – it’s all really about helping teachers and helping kids.”

He may have retired from school business, but Hall hasn’t finished with his role as a developer of people.

Now an instructor at NorthStar, he’s teaching kids how to ski. “The whole dynamic of teaching kids, learning about their cognitive and physical development, learning how to coach them around their strengths, has been really fun and challenging for me.” z z z