Los Nietos School District Superintendent Will Retire

Herlinda Leong will resign as superintendent of the Los Nietos School District in Whittier at the end of June. Leong, who has been the top administrator in the elementary district for five years, said she is stepping down to pursue other interests and eventually travel with her husband when he retires next year. She is the only woman superintendent in Whittier’s five school districts.

The five-member school board has hired a consultant to draw up a list of candidates to replace Leong in the 2,000-student system. The board expects to name a replacement by mid-May, a district spokeswoman said.

Leong began working in the district in 1959 as a second-grade teacher at Rancho Santa Gertrudes School. Since then she has held a number of positions, including principal, director of curriculum and assistant superintendent. She was named acting superintendent in July, 1981, when Glenn Lawson left the post. Eight months later she assumed the post permanently.