ORANGE : Schools Hire Head of Support Services

Richard L. Donoghue will replace John Perry as assistant superintendent of support services for the Orange Unified School District.

Donoghue, who has been assistant superintendent of business services for Pomona Unified since 1984, signed a contract earlier this week for a starting salary of $94,700, about $5,000 over the listed salary. Benefits include three weeks of vacation and an expense account of $400 each month.

School board President Jeff Holstien explained the higher salary offer as “the amount of dollars needed to get Mr. Donoghue to leave a rather comfortable position in Pomona where he had everything under control to come into a district where, I would say, things are in a bit of a disarray financially.

“The district has to allocate dollars to bring in top-notch people who can bring this district back where it belongs,” he said.

Orange Unified has been beset by financial instability and charges of fiscal mismanagement in recent years.

Holstien said Donoghue had an “excellent reputation” in the San Gabriel Valley.

“He gets things done, he solves problems and he does so in a non-confrontational manner,” Holstien said. Donoghue’s predecessor, Perry, was highly critical of board policies and resigned.

Donoghue said about a year ago that a mutual friend introduced him to the Orange Unified’s newly appointed superintendent, Norman Guith.

“Since I knew the superintendent I thought we might be able to make a difference,” Donoghue said. “We seem to be on the same philosophical page.”

“Orange did not get into trouble overnight and its problems can’t be solved overnight,” Donoghue said. “It’s like the guy who asked, ‘How do you eat an elephant?’ . . . One bite at a time.”

Donoghue will join Orange Unified immediately on a part-time basis and will begin full-time duties about the first of next month.

The Pomona school district serves about 26,500 students, comparable to Orange Unified’s enrollment of about 24,000. Both districts have budgets of about $105 million.

Donoghue was assistant superintendent of business services for the East Whittier City School District from 1977 to 1984.

He received a master’s degree in education from the University of Southern California in 1974.

Donoghue, 45, came to California from Washington in 1959. He and his wife Melody live in Arcadia with their three children.