COUNTY ELECTIONS : SCHOOLS : Supt. Peterson is Beaten Decisively in 7th-Term Bid : ‘I thought it would be closer,’ said the incumbent after a 2-1 loss to college professor Dean.

After 24 years in office, voters on Tuesday handed County Supt. of Schools Robert Peterson a crushing defeat and elected John F. Dean, a veteran educator strongly backed by the state’s teacher’s union. A dejected Peterson said Dean’s 2-1 margin of victory was “larger than I expected--I thought it would be closer.”

“Folks must feel that I’m ready for retirement, although I don’t feel that way,” said Peterson, 70. “But the voters are supreme.”

Dean, a Whittier College professor and Peterson’s first serious challenger, scored an unexpectedly large victory after pre-election polls showed the two in a neck-and-neck struggle for the job.

“I think it’s wonderful,” Dean said. “I think the people of the county have realized that they need new leadership, that the schools are terribly important.”

Dean, 63, who became the first opponent to outpoll Peterson when he won the June primary by 1,000 votes, attributed his win to “a grass-roots campaign” by volunteers who went door-to-door and “contacted literally thousands of people.”

He also credited the endorsement of and campaign work by the California Teachers Assn. for his wide margin of victory.

Dean will start his four-year term in the $98,000-a-year nonpartisan position in January.

Dean’s win ends a long and often checkered career for Peterson. Supporters hailed him as an innovator who brought new programs to the county, including the Academic Decathlon, a competition that grew from a local contest Peterson started 20 years ago to an international event. But critics--including two Orange County Grand Juries--blasted him as entrenched figurehead who was unaware of district concerns and out of touch with new teaching methods.

Tuesday’s election also decided twelve Orange County school board races, with especially hot races in the Ocean View, Huntington Beach City, Tustin Unified, Fountain Valley and Anaheim Union High School districts.

In Ocean View, nine challengers and two incumbents vied for four seats on the board, whose members have been sharply divided for the past year over issues ranging from school shutdowns to desegregation. Board President Charles Osterlund trailed badly in his bid for re-election, but Trustee Carolyn Hunt was ahead in her bid for a new term. Challengers Lottie M. Hobbs, Tracy Pellman and Carolyn Kanode were the frontrunners for the other three open seats.

In the Huntington Beach City School District, incumbent board President Sherry Barlow and Trustees Patricia Cohen were on their way to defeat. Challengers Shirley Carey and Brian Garland, a former two-term trustee, and incumbent Robert Mann were the top vote-getters for three open seats.

In the Anaheim Union High School District, six challengers squared off with incumbent Joanne L. Stanton for three seats on the five-member board. The district has been plagued by troubles with its teachers union and complaints of mismanagement of the district’s annual $106-million budget. Stanton and candidates Beverly Yourstone and Molly McGee appeared headed for victory in late returns.

Voters in the Tustin Unified School District appeared to reject the candidacy of Maurice A. Ross, the former district superintendent. Critics charged that if elected, Ross would upset a tenuous peace between the board and the teachers union in the once-chaotic district. Ross was far behind incumbents Gloria Tuchman and Jane Bauer.

In the Fountain Valley School District--which has become the focus of nationwide attention over possible health hazards generated by power lines near many of its schools--three of the four challengers were on the verge of unseating incumbents Roger Belgen, Mary Lou Crossett and Stephen Einstein. All three incumbents fell to the bottom of the slate, with challengers Barbara A. Vogel, Robert J. Sedlak and Larry R. Crandall heading for victory.

School board elections were also held in the Fullerton Joint Union High School, Laguna Beach Unified, Placentia Unified, Saddleback Valley Unified, Fullerton, Savanna and Westminster districts. Elections were also held for the boards of the Rancho Santiago and North Orange County community college districts.

Times staff writer Nancy Wride contributed to this report, along with Shannon Sands.