‘Leadership Style, Philosophy’ Cited : Board Fires Chula Vista Schools Chief

The superintendent of the Chula Vista City School District has been fired by the school board in a surprise move only two days before the traditional school year begins, and only a year after he was hired to bring wide-ranging changes to the South Bay district.

Robert J. McCarthy, selected in June, 1988, after a nationwide search, had been praised as late as April for “having a background and philosophy similar to that of the district.” But, on Friday, board President Frank Tarantino said the board acted Thursday night “because of differences in leadership style and philosophy.”

The rapidly growing district has almost 17,000 students in kindergarten through sixth grade, spread through 33 elementary schools, with about a third on year-round schedules. It is the largest elementary school district in San Diego County.

Tarantino, a high school counselor with the Sweetwater high school district, refused Friday to elaborate on the board’s brief statement about McCarthy’s forced resignation, under which he will be paid through June, 1990.

‘Shocked, Disappointed’

McCarthy said he was “genuinely shocked and disappointed” at the action, although he conceded that, in retrospect, his many initiatives during the past year had generated substantial opposition.

Among other actions, McCarthy had hired several new administrators, revamped the bilingual program and instituted teacher accountability measures to boost student achievement. The district’s scores on the California Assessment Program standardized tests ranked among the county’s lowest in reading and mathematics during the past several years.

“There is no question that the teachers union was not enamored with what I was trying to do, which is to gear efforts to helping kids learn rather than keeping everyone happy,” McCarthy said. “There is no doubt that the quality of the teaching staff in Chula Vista is there to achieve the same results as National City and South Bay Union (districts) have done. . . . I knew there were some difficulties,” but nothing to suggest his firing, he added. A district teacher who asked not to be identified said that McCarthy “had hurt a lot of people” with his aggressive style and that there was “a general undercurrent of unrest, from the top to the bottom.”

The teacher said that, after McCarthy would finish a school visit, the staff would be upset at the way he had talked to them when outlining necessary changes.

McCarthy, who came to Chula Vista after seven years as superintendent in San Leandro, near San Francisco, said he will look for another school position.

“I hope that the much-needed change in Chula Vista will take place . . . and that, with some of the things now put in place, the district will begin to turn the corner,” McCarthy said.