HUNTINGTON BEACH : Rift Reportedly Led to Peters’ Departure

A rift between the Huntington Beach City School District board and Supt. Diana Peters contributed to her resignation announced this week, according to district records released Friday.

A nine-page resignation agreement, worked out during six closed-door sessions, states that there was a “controversy between the board and Dr. Peters over her employment relationship” that would likely result in legal disputes.

Neither Peters nor district officials would discuss the exact reasons for her departure, however.

The agreement calls for the district to pay Peters $126,952 in exchange for her promise not to sue the district for dismissing her before the end of her contract, which expires in June, 1993. Peters’ resignation will be effective Tuesday.

Since Peters’ departure was announced Wednesday, officials have remained tight-lipped about the matter because the resignation agreement includes a gag order forbidding board members and Peters from publicly discussing the issue.

“Board members . . . and Dr. Peters shall not make any disparaging or derogatory remarks, comments or statements regarding each other,” the terms state. And, both sides “agree to report publicly that this agreement is an amicable resolution of philosophical differences between Dr. Peters and the board.”

District officials have said only that differences developed between Peters and the board just a year after it gave her a glowing review and extended her contract. She has been superintendent for four years.

The document lends support to many teachers’ and parents’ claims that the board requested Peters’ resignation under pressure from the teachers’ union. Leaders of the Huntington Beach Elementary Teachers Assn. blame Peters for labor tensions that have deepened in recent years.

During 1989-90 contract talks that were stalled for nearly a year, teachers frequently berated Peters and trustees at board meetings. Union leaders said they had been planning a campaign to oust three board members scheduled to face reelection Nov. 6 if they continued to support Peters.

Trustees and Peters have refused to comment on what role the union might have played in her resignation.

The payment to Peters is not related to salary compensation, the agreement says. It represents the amount of the remainder of her contract.

Under the agreement, the district is scheduled to deliver the full payment to the outgoing superintendent by Aug. 15. A 10% annual interest charge would be tacked on to any amount that remains unpaid at that date.

Peters praised the district after her resignation and talked only about “the many positive things” she believes occurred in the district during her tenure.

As for her future plans, Peters, 44, said this week that “I’ll be open to everything,” although she hopes to continue living in Huntington Beach.

“I’m going to take my time and be very open about my possibilities,” she said. “Of course, it helps having an agreement that takes care of me financially for awhile.”