LAGUNA BEACH : School District Hires New Superintendent

An award-winning Los Angeles school administrator was named superintendent of the Laguna Beach Unified School District on Monday.

Paul M. Possemato, 57, of Anaheim, will take over the $104,000-a-year position next week. He replaces Dennis M. Smith, who resigned to become superintendent of Cajon Valley Unified School District in San Diego County.

Possemato has spent 35 years as a teacher and administrator in the Los Angeles Unified School District, the last five years as an associate superintendent. He was a junior and senior high school principal and taught history and government.

He was recently named the 1991 State of California Outstanding Administrator, and was honored by the UCLA School of Education as 1991 Educator of the Year.

Laguna Beach Unified has four schools and 2,200 students.

“This job was the right place at the right time,” Possemato said. “I was very satisfied in Los Angeles, but the idea of being in charge of a district--of not only developing and suggesting curriculum changes but taking responsibility for them as well--was appealing.”

In Los Angeles, Possemato was in charge of implementing its first magnet schools, which give children specialized education in subjects such as art and computers, and its school-based management program, which gives principals, teachers and parents more control of their local schools.

“I became interested in Laguna Beach because of its commitment to academic excellence, to measuring performance in the classroom, to the degree in which it involves students and teachers in decision making,” he said.

Possemato has a bachelor’s degree in political science from UCLA and a doctorate from USC.