Next Superintendent of County Education : Schools: Valley Center district chief will be appointed to head the County Office of Education.

The head of the 2,300-student Valley Center Union school district has been selected as the next superintendent of the San Diego County Office of Education, school officials announced Monday.

Harry C. Weinberg, 54, will be formally appointed to the post Wednesday after the County Board of Education approves a contract, school officials said.

“We wanted someone in particular who (school district superintendents) in the county could relate to and feel good about, and someone whom the employees of the County Office of Education would respect and like,” board member Martin Block said.

Weinberg will head up a county office with 728 employees and an annual budget of $71 million. In Valley Center, where he has been superintendent for 14 years, he oversees 250 employees and a $10-million budget.

“I’m really loyal to my current district, and we’ve done great things,” Weinberg said. “But I can still be in touch with this district and make a contribution over a larger area.”

Weinberg will replace Thomas Boysen, who left to head the state Department of Education in Kentucky after serving three years in San Diego.

Weinberg at first declined an invitation to apply for the job when asked by a board member in January.

Ten days ago, he was asked again after board members interviewed 10 finalists from a field of nearly 100 applicants from across the country but could not agree unanimously on any one candidate.

On April 1, after interviews with board members and consultation with family and colleagues, Weinberg accepted.

“Any time you change jobs, you have trepidation. As of yet, I’m just more interested and stimulated than I am fearful,” he said.

Weinberg said he has no immediate plans for changes at the county office.

“It isn’t something that has to be fixed, but it is something that has to be kept moving forward,” Weinberg said.

“I want the county office to be a lighthouse of excellence that other districts can follow. There are many fine education programs that (we) know about, and I think we can be a clearing house for those programs,” Weinberg said.

The president of the Valley Center Teachers Assn., Bill Kelly, has worked with Weinberg since he arrived in 1977.

“When Harry first got there, my first words to him were, ‘Wipe that smile off your face,’ because we were walking the picket lines,” Kelly said.

Weinberg had stepped into a fragmented district muddled in red ink and poor labor relations and in a district where teachers’ salaries were among the lowest in the county. Within two years, the district was brought back together and morale was high.

“Teachers in Valley Center call Dr. Weinberg ‘Harry.’ It’s always been ‘Harry,’ and he introduces himself as ‘Harry,’ ” Kelly said.

“My dealings with Harry have always been in honesty and truthfulness. We can sit at a bargaining session, and I can be truthful with him, because I feel he’s being truthful with me.”

Among the people Weinberg consulted before making his decision was Mac Bernd, superintendent at San Marcos Unified.

“I said, ‘Harry, you’ve got a reputation in Valley Center, and it probably would be very comfortable for you to stay there, but we need your leadership,’ ” Bernd said.

Contract negotiations have not yet been completed, but Boysen’s salary was $99,500 when he left the office, and school officials expect Weinberg’s salary to be comparable.