Local News in Brief : Anaheim : Schools’ Occupational Project Names Director

Thomas Alan Kurtz, director of the Riverside County Regional Occupational Program for the past four years, has been named superintendent of the North Orange County Regional Occupational Program effective Dec. 1

Kurtz will take over the position vacated by David L. Smith, who retired June 30. John E. Dewey, director of the program’s instructional services, served as interim superintendent during the nationwide search.

Kurtz, 42, holds a doctorate in education from U. S. International University in San Diego. He earned his master’s degree in educational counseling from Cal State Fullerton and his bachelor’s degree in education from the University of Arizona.

Kurtz and his wife, Ann, live in Riverside, where she is an assistant principal at Canyon Springs High School. They have three children.

The North Orange County Regional Occupational Program, which has its headquarters in Anaheim, is a joint vocational education effort by five school districts: Anaheim and Fullerton union high school districts and Brea-Olinda, Los Alamitos and Placentia unified school districts.