District Picks First Latino Superintendent

NORWALK — The son of migrant farm workers this week became the first Latino to head the Norwalk-La Mirada Unified School District when the board unanimously voted to offer him a three-year contract.

Robert Aguilar, 50, an associate superintendent for the Richmond Unified School District near San Francisco, will be paid an annual salary of $92,000 to run the district that has 18,000 students, more than half of them Latino.

He was born in El Paso, Tex., but grew up in Central California, where his parents were migrant farm workers. He has a bachelor’s degree in economics and education from Cal State Fresno. He earned a master’s degree in instruction and administration at San Jose State University and a doctorate in curriculum and administration from the University of Pacific in Stockton.

School board member Salvador Ambriz said Aguilar’s ethnic heritage was “definitely a contributing factor in his selection. He will serve as a role model for (Latino) students.”

Aguilar said that his ability to speak Spanish is an asset but that he will not restrict his efforts just to the Latino students.

“I will be going into the living rooms to speak with parents. I will speak to the leadership of the PTA. I will meet with key business, government and education leaders. I want to be a good listener. I want their ideas for making this a better district,” Aguilar said.

He promised to work to raise test scores in the district and to prevent students from dropping out of school.

He said one issue he intends to raise is whether there should be middle schools in the district. The district closed seven middle schools more than a decade ago because of declining enrollment. “The parents and community people I have talked to so far all say they want middle schools. We need to focus on that,” Aguilar said.

A plan to reopen middle schools was killed by the Board of Education in 1988. Uncertainties over financing led to the decision. The board had planned to seek voter approval of a special property tax to help pay for the middle-school plan, but some members said they believed the ballot measure would fail and the matter was dropped.

Aguilar said he applied for the Norwalk-La Mirada job because it is “an opportunity and challenge for professional growth.”

He has been a teacher, counselor, administrator and superintendent, all in Central and Northern California, in his more than 28 years as an educator. He was superintendent for the 1,800-student Earlimart Elementary School District before going to Richmond in 1987 as an associate superintendent with an $81,000 annual salary.

While the Richmond district is larger, with 31,000 students, there are similarities between the two districts. Both urban districts serve more than one city and have very poor sections as well as very affluent communities, Aguilar said.

Richmond is currently attempting to offset a $6.4-million deficit in a $133-million budget for the 1989-90 school year. The district is considering issuing bonds to try to erase the deficit.

The Norwalk-La Mirada district is considering tentative cuts of $1.4 million to balance a $67 million budget for the 1990-91 school year.

The Richmond district has received attention for its program in which parents have the freedom to choose other schools within the system if they are dissatisfied with the one in their neighborhood. Aguilar said he had no plans to propose such a program in the Norwalk-La Mirada district.

Aguilar replaces Bruce C. Newlin, who resigned in June, 1989, to become superintendent of the Ceres unified system in Central California. Newlin left the district after 11 years. Newlin said he wanted to work in a smaller, rural environment.

Aguilar and his wife Gloria have two sons, Anthony, 28, and Robert, 26.