Hawthorne Principal Hunts for Job : Schools: Kenneth Crowe’s chilly relations with the Centinela Valley Unified schools could end if he gets a post in Inglewood.

Hawthorne High School Principal Kenneth Crowe, who faces reassignment at the end of the school year, has applied for a job with the Inglewood Unified School District.

His current employer, the Centinela Valley Union High School District, has been beset by racial tensions and conflicts between administrators and school board members. Crowe’s pending reassignment has been one of the most divisive recent issues in the district.

Inglewood Supt. George McKenna, who supervised Crowe several years ago at Washington High School in Los Angeles, confirmed that Crowe is one of several candidates interviewing for a principal’s job at an Inglewood secondary school. Despite their former relationship, McKenna said, Crowe did not ask him for a recommendation.

The Inglewood district began compiling a list of candidates for the principal’s job after the board of trustees voted last month to reassign Inglewood High School Principal Lawrence Freeman, who has been under fire for his leadership style and strict disciplinary measures.

Inglewood school board member Zyra McCloud said Monday that she considers Crowe a strong candidate for the principalship “in that he has done an excellent job at Hawthorne.”

But McCloud said she would like the school board to reconsider the reassignment of Freeman, who has been on sick leave since May 1, when racial tensions erupted into fistfights between black and Latino students at Inglewood High.

Crowe was among the top three applicants for the principal’s job at Duarte High School but was passed over last week when the Duarte Unified School District board decided instead to promote someone from within the district.

Duarte Supt. Robert M. Packer described Crowe as “very professional, a viable applicant” and “a very competent candidate.” Crowe’s conflict with the Centinela Valley school board played no role in the decision to fill the vacancy, he added.

Crowe declined to comment Tuesday about his employment plans, saying they are personal.

Crowe started at Hawthorne High in 1985 as dean of students before being promoted the next year to assistant principal. In February, 1988, he became principal. He oversaw several changes at the school, including the reassignment of more than 30 teachers who had been teaching in areas for which they lacked credentials.

The predominantly white teachers union bristled at the reassignments and accused Crowe, who is black, of favoritism and poor management skills.

Crowe said he was a victim of racism and accused the school board of not moving fast enough to eradicate racial tensions in the school. In early March, Crowe resigned as principal after being told that he would be reassigned at the end of the school year, which is June 30 for school staff.

His resignation, and allegations that the board’s decision to reassign him was racially motivated, sparked student walkouts on March 5 and 6. Crowe later asked the board to rescind his resignation. He said the board instead ordered him placed on medical leave, even though he said he is not ill.

Although he remains principal through the end of school year, his status has become a heated issue among members of the black community, who have also accused the predominantly Latino school board of being racist in its dealings with Crowe.

Crowe has filed a claim with the state Department of Fair Employment and Housing, alleging racial discrimination.

“I’ve said all along that I want the board to rescind their action, and I still stand by that,” Crowe said Tuesday. “There is no legal reason why I was reassigned. I’ve done everything that is expected of me as principal.”

During his tenure as principal, he said, the school’s dropout rate improved and more students enrolled in college preparatory classes. Graffiti and gang activity have been curtailed at the campus, and the number of students taking college entrance exams has risen, he said.

“I really believe that, if I were white, instead of reassigning me they would have had a parade down Hawthorne Boulevard,” Crowe said.

Supt. McKinley Nash, who spoke in support of Crowe at a board meeting last month, said Tuesday that, despite “what happened in this school district, if I had a chance to hire him tomorrow, I would do it all over again.”

The trustees have denied that Crowe’s race played a role in any of their actions but have declined to comment on their plans for him, citing board policy against discussing personnel matters in public.

District procedure requires that all reassignments be made by June 30.