Swap of Principals OKd Despite Recall Threat

Despite the threat of recall from an overflow crowd at a tense Newport-Mesa Unified School District board meeting Tuesday night, the trustees unanimously approved the swap of Newport Harbor High principal Tom Jacobson and Corona del Mar High principal Dennis Evans.

The voice vote came after almost four hours of emotional debate before 350 people, with virtually all those in the audience urging the board not to exchange the two popular principals.

Before the 7-0 vote, the board members each explained his or her position. Most said they were supporting the exchange because they support district Supt. John Nicoll, who made the recommendation.

“One thing that has perhaps clouded this issue from the outset has been the threat of recall,” board member Tom Williams said. “If you can put yourself in a school board member’s position, it’s a very hurtful position. . . . The inference is that you’ve done something terribly wrong.”

He referred to some speakers at the meeting and to comments made several days before the meeting that a recall movement might be launched if the board went ahead with the transfer.

At issue was Nicoll’s recommendation that Jacobson and Evans exchange their high school posts beginning next fall. Jacobson has been at Newport Harbor for 12 years as principal, and Evans has been principal at Corona del Mar for 17 years. Nicoll, in statements made last month, said the change would be good for both men and would also benefit both high schools.

But the proposal produced a furor in Newport Beach, where the two high schools are archrivals and both principals are very popular.

James Warmington, a parent from Newport Beach, urged the board not to approve the exchange. “The principals, both professionals, don’t want to make this change,” Warmington said. “There is overwhelming parental support to leave things the way they are.”

Another parent, Karen Kendall, said that the Newport Harbor High PTA had polled 84% of the families of students attending that high school about Nicoll’s proposal. “A full 76.9% opposed the principal swap. . . . Please allow two very successful schools to continue their success with their respective principals.”

In addition to parents, several teachers and students addressed the board, all opposing the proposed exchange. Some of the teachers delivered some of the more critical comments about Nicoll that were heard during the long board meeting.

William Pascual, a counselor at Corona del Mar High, accused Nicoll of “hasty, impulsive actions,” and added that the transfer proposal came as a “divine proclamation” from the superintendent.

Another teacher, Miriam Thompson, head of the English department at Corona del Mar High, said that Nicoll had never adequately explained his reasons for the exchange.

“We have received only a ‘Father Knows Best’ response,” she said.

One of the community members who testified said the seven-member school board might face a recall if it voted to approve the transfer of the two principals.

Parents and students who opposed the exchange said Nicoll’s proposal came as a surprise.

Esther Fine, parent of a student at Newport Harbor High and one of the leaders in the movement to try to stop the swap, said before the meeting that the two principals have proved they are good at their respective high schools.

“If a coach has a winning team for several years, he is not suddenly replaced,” she said. “Instead, he is retained to build on that effective partnership.”

Fine and other parents who opposed the exchange also questioned whether the principals could change allegiance after so many years at rival schools. “It would be extremely difficult for both principals to instantly switch allegiance to an ultracompetitive, cross-town rival,” Fine said.

But Nicoll, in statements before Tuesday night’s meeting, said the principals could and would take the exchange in stride. “In my considered professional judgment, based on many years of experience, this change will be good for both men and for both schools,” he said.

School board President Jim de Boom told the audience that state law clearly gives Nicoll the authority to recommend transfers of all personnel in the school district. De Boom said that Nicoll was thus only doing what he was supposed to do in making the proposal. De Boom also said that 39 principals of other schools had been transferred since 1970.