Local News in Brief : Countywide : 2 Superintendents Listed in Magazine Honor Roll

Two Orange County school superintendents are among 100 “outstanding school executives” in the United States and Canada profiled in the February issue of The Executive Editor, a magazine for school professionals.

The magazine included Maurice A. Ross, superintendent of Tustin Unified School District, and John Nicoll, superintendent of Newport-Mesa Unified School District, in the publication’s annual listing of “100 of North America’s best and brightest school executives.”

The school officials named this year have at least 25 years each of educational service, magazine officials said. “Individually, this year’s honorees have made significant contributions to education; collectively, they are shaping an impressive legacy of school leadership,” said Leonard Rovins, president of the National School Boards Assn.

The magazine’s profile of Ross, 57, noted that he has been superintendent in Tustin Unified since 1977. The profile praised Ross for last year negotiating a $103-million agreement with the Irvine Co. to help finance new schools that will be needed when the company completes a large new subdivision in the school district.

The magazine also said that “in the years since the passage of California’s Proposition 13, (Ross) has learned to compete successfully for limited state funds while still preserving local control.”

The profile of Nicoll, 67, noted that he has been superintendent of the school system in Newport Beach and Costa Mesa since 1971. The article praised Nicoll’s “great love for his work and his continuing desire to involve the whole child in education.”

The magazine said Nicoll “considers himself lucky in his choice of a career.” In the article, Nicoll says, “I’ve made a difference in the lives of thousands and thousands of children, and I think it’s a positive one.”