Lynwood Goes With Clarke as Schools Head : Education: The board decides against a nationwide search and chooses the interim superintendent in a move that takes some members by surprise.

In a move that surprised even some of its own members, the Lynwood school board Tuesday dropped plans for a nationwide search for a new superintendent and decided to hire interim Supt. Audrey Clarke.

Board member Richard Armstrong led the move to hire Clarke. “There is no need to pay $10,000 to $15,000 on a search firm when we already have a good person in the position. I happy with her performance,” he said in an interview after the meeting.

Armstrong’s proposal at the board meeting apparently was unexpected. Board member Thelma Williams left the room rather than vote, saying she was surprised and needed time to think about the plan.

Board member Rachel Chavez abstained. “If I had time to think about it, I would have left the room, too,” she said after the meeting. “I think we rushed this.”

Board President Joe T. Battle joined Armstrong Tuesday in voting for Clarke. Board member Willard Hawn Reed voted against the motion. Reed said he favored a nationwide search. The board officially will be listed as approving Clarke’s appointment by a 3-1 vote because Chavez’s abstention is recorded as a yes vote under board rules.

Despite their reservations about the suddenness of the vote, Reed, Williams and Chavez said they will support Clarke.

The new superintendent also said she was not prepared for the board’s decision. “I didn’t expect this but I’m happy,” Clarke said.

Clarke, who has been with the district since 1977, succeeds LaVoneia Steele, who resigned under fire in January.

The board said at the time a nationwide search would be conducted to find a superintendent for the troubled district of 14,500 students. Clarke applied for the job.

Clarke said later that she wants to assemble a group of parents and others to suggest solutions to the district’s most pressing problem, overcrowding. She said parents who oppose year-round schools would be represented.

After numerous protests from parents, the board Tuesday voted to delay for at least another year a plan to start a year-round experiment to relieve overcrowding in three elementary schools.

Terms of Clarke’s contract still must be worked out. The board asked its attorney, Bill Brown, to work out terms of the contract and have it ready by the next meeting April 10.

Clarke was an assistant principal and a principal at Lynwood High School before being named associate superintendent in 1985. The board increased Clarke’s salary from $69,000 to $81,000 when she was named interim superintendent.

She earned a bachelor’s degree in foreign languages at Howard University in Washington, and a master’s degree in educational administration at UCLA.