County superintendent of education steps down

The superintendent of the Los Angeles County Office of Education is stepping down after eight years amid controversy over her decision to cut education programs and allegations that she failed to enforce standards at schools for juvenile offenders.

Darline P. Robles told agency staffers late Friday about her decision to retire.

“I leave with the satisfaction that through collaborative efforts with school leaders, classroom teachers and educational partners, we have achieved positive outcomes for students and made important strides toward closing the achievement gap,” Robles said. “I feel the time is right to make this change and seek new challenges.”

Her departure is effective Aug. 30. Robles was unavailable for comment, said agency spokesman Richard de la Torre. No announcement was made about a successor.

The superintendent oversees a regional education agency that controls a $1-billion budget, offers support programs for 80 kindergarten-through-12th grade school districts and provides classroom instruction for 8,000 special education students and an estimated 30,000 juvenile offenders.

When she was appointed in 2002, she was the first woman and Latina to be named to the high-profile post. Robles is credited with reorganizing the county education’s Head Start preschool program into one that earned commendations from federal authorities.

But her tenure has coincided with some of the toughest challenges the district has ever faced, including state funding cuts that caused layoffs and other program cuts.

In addition, the agency is embroiled in a number of controversies, including a federal class-action lawsuit filed in January on behalf of juveniles incarcerated at the county’s largest probation camp. The suit alleges that they are not receiving an adequate education.

Most recently, a decision by Robles to close nearly two dozen alternative schools — uprooting some 700 students on probation and others who can’t attend traditional schools — was heavily criticized by the county Board of Supervisors, who appoint the education office’s trustees and are responsible for selecting a new superintendent.

“It’s accurate to say there have been tensions around rather important items in the last year in particular, and those concerns have been voiced rather clearly in a public way,” said Supervisor Mark Ridley-Thomas.

carla.rivera@latimes.com