HUNTINGTON BEACH : Schools Chief Tells Why He’s Retiring

Supt. Monte McMurray said Thursday that his decision this week to retire at the end of the school year was not influenced by the turmoil that has brewed in the Ocean View School District during his 2 1/2-year tenure.

District officials announced Wednesday that McMurray will retire when his contract expires next June. In his first comments since the announcement, McMurray on Thursday denied that any particular controversy prompted his unexpected resignation.

“I just plan on retiring at this point. I’ve worked in education for 32 years, and I’ve been looking at this for a year or so,” he said. “I could have retired a year ago, and I thought about it seriously, and decided now this is what I wanted to do.”

McMurray downplayed the stormy issues that have confronted the district in recent years, including proposed school closures, budget cuts, a sweeping grade-level reorganization and a hotly opposed property assessment fee.

Those issues have divided board members and have often drawn criticism from residents, but McMurray insisted that those matters have been “the positive side of the job, really. This district has been taking some very bold steps forward in recent years,” he said.

McMurray, 55, is scheduled to remain at his post until June 30 but said he has accumulated three months of unused vacation time and may leave as soon as April.

He will be leaving Ocean View at a critical juncture as it prepares to enact the most comprehensive reorganization in its history next fall. The plan, which seeks to improve educational programs and move toward desegregation, will close two schools, introduce four middle schools and overhaul Oak View Elementary School.

Because McMurray has delegated most of the duties of overseeing the plan to other administrators, he said he does not think that his departure will slow the transition to the new school alignment.

“Our planning activities are pretty much in place already, and staff is carrying that out,” he said. “I have every confidence that it will go smoothly. I really don’t have any concern.”

McMurray said he chose to announce his retirement now to allow trustees plenty of time to hire his successor. The board is expected to discuss its superintendent search at its Tuesday meeting.

McMurray’s career in education began in 1960 as an elementary school teacher in the Inglewood Unified School District. He later became an administrator, before moving to Ocean View in 1971 to become principal of Westmont School.

A year later, he was promoted to supervisor over nine district schools and in 1973 was appointed assistant superintendent for educational services. After 11 years in that position, McMurray switched to superintendent of business services.

When Supt. Dale Coogan became ill in January, 1989, McMurray filled in as interim superintendent. Coogan died that March, and the board appointed McMurray as his successor.