Restoration Project Under Way at Oxnard : Athletics reform: First-year Principal Rick Rezinas takes scholarly approach in attempt to repair school’s tattered image.

The eerie fog that sometimes creeps onto the field at Oxnard High during football games seems to symbolize the shroud of mystery that has hung over the school’s athletics program in recent years.

Rumors and innuendoes, the kind that can give a school a bad name, seem to surface each year.

Rick Rezinas, Oxnard’s first-year principal, has heard the talk, and he is determined to silence the rumormongers. He is bent on changing the school’s image as a gang-infested campus with dilapidated buildings and telltale bolted chain-link fences.

“I believe the school has gotten a bad rap in many ways,” Rezinas said. “I’ve heard all these things about gangs and how you’ll get beat up over here. But if you go on campus and meet the kids, you’ll find them to be a super group.

“I did not come to Oxnard to set right something that had been wrong. I don’t think Oxnard has any more problems than any other school. But there are some things we need to take care of.”

That concern has galvanized Rezinas into action.

Rezinas was the principal of Riverbank High near Modesto the previous two years and a teacher and water polo coach at Agoura High from 1976-86. At Oxnard, which opened its doors in 1901, he is trying to bridge the gap between athletics and academics.

Perhaps Oxnard’s darkest moment involved Johnel Turner, a quarterback at the school from 1987-89 who was heavily recruited by NCAA Division I schools until his transcripts were reviewed by recruiters.

Turner’s uncle, Jeff Turner, upset at his nephew’s academic shortcomings, last year lashed out at Oxnard and football Coach Jack Davis. Most disturbing to Jeff Turner was that his nephew was given passing grades despite the number of absences he had in various courses.

According to Jeff Turner, Johnel had 32 absences in a math class during the second semester of the 1988-89 school year and received a B grade. He said that, during the first semester, Johnel was given an A grade in a weight-training and conditioning course despite 23 absences.

Jeff Turner also said that Johnel twice had more than 20 absences in a class and earned a B grade.

Rezinas was reluctant to pass judgment on the Oxnard faculty.

“Without actually seeing the transcripts, I hesitate to question the integrity of our teachers,” he said. “But I have made it very clear to our teachers that it is not in anybody’s best interests to abide by the rules only during an athlete’s eligibility period.”

To that end, Rezinas is requiring prospective coaches to meet seven criteria. They must:

1. Be a teacher of fundamentals.

2. Develop a four-year program of consistency in which each player continues to develop.

3. See the interaction of the academic and athletic programs as key elements in the development of young people.

4. Maintain and continue to develop the high level of sportsmanship and goodwill associated with Oxnard athletics.

5. Assist local colleges with recruiting.

6. Motivate students in both the classroom and on the playing field.

7. Work with the boosters to organize fund-raisers for the benefit of the program.

Rezinas has met with parents, coaches, teachers and students in an effort to implement his program.

“I know the importance of keeping your grades up as well as doing your work on the field,” said Rezinas, a graduate of Venice High who attended Cal State Northridge on a football scholarship. “I think that’s necessary in any high school.”

Rezinas said he will adopt, as he sees fit, an academic policy more stringent than the minimum standards set forth by the Southern Section. One example is the demand Rezinas placed on Lloyd Mix, a highly touted running back who transferred from Santa Clara before the current school year with a 1.80 grade-point average.

Rezinas required Mix to earn at least a C grade in every course before he was granted a probationary hearing. (Under Southern Section and Oxnard Union High School District rules, in order to gain athletic eligibility, a student must maintain a 2.0 GPA and can fail no more than two classes.)

“I just wanted him to be able to demonstrate that he was making progress,” Rezinas said. “I can always make things go upward from the district’s policies.”

Said Tony Diaz, the school’s athletic director, “(Rezinas) wants to make sure an A in P.E. doesn’t cover up a D in English. This way, (Mix) has to be passing every course.”

Diaz said that Mix earned a C or better in each course during the first six-week grading period this semester. Mix was granted eligibility by the Southern Section three weeks ago and was cleared to play by Oxnard on Oct. 30.

“I can guarantee everybody in Southern California that before (Mix) is eligible, we will have taken every necessary step,” Rezinas said after the Southern Section had granted Mix eligibility. “If he becomes eligible, it will be squeaky clean. Because that is what’s best for him, the school and the football program.”

Although Rezinas’ stricter academic standards might have denied Mix his entire junior season and could keep players off Oxnard’s football team in the future, Davis supports Rezinas. “He’s doing the right thing,” he said.

Along those lines, “We’re going to monitor the kids more closely,” Rezinas said. “If a student has a chance to earn a scholarship, academically or athletically, they’re going to get it.”

Rezinas, 44, also has shown a willingness to understand and abide by Southern Section rules. Last season, Diaz and former Principal Ruperto Cisneros misinterpreted a student-transfer rule and the football team was forced to forfeit two wins.

This year, Rezinas has attempted to ensure that Oxnard’s athletic programs will not forfeit any future games. He has phoned the Southern Section office for rule interpretations and has even visited the homes of transfer students and made copies of lease agreements.

“I’ve been very impressed with the attitude of Oxnard’s principal and his desire to be knowledgeable of CIF rules,” said Bill Clark, the Southern Section administrator in charge of football.

In his first few months on the job, the new principal also has changed the look of the coaching staff. He relieved Dan Garcia of his duties as basketball coach--Garcia’s teams were 60-119 in eight seasons, including 3-21 last year--and replaced Diaz, the baseball coach the past five seasons, with Garcia to give Diaz more time to attend to his duties as athletic director.

Oxnard’s reputation with the media also concerns Rezinas.

“One of the things we’re trying to do is create a more helpful and positive atmosphere,” Rezinas said. “Our high school is a focal point of our community, and people want to be proud of it.”

Rezinas has been on the job only three months but already the school has endured its share of adversity.

On Thursday, Oct. 10, the sophomore football team’s bus was attacked as it left Santa Barbara High and an Oxnard player received 10 stitches after a thrown rock struck his forehead. According to Santa Barbara police, the attack was the result of verbal jousting between at least one Oxnard player and a group of Santa Barbara supporters.

That Friday, Rezinas addressed the school’s student body at a pep assembly before the varsity football contest between the schools that evening. “I told them it was an opportunity for the Oxnard High School student body to show some character.”

A fight between two groups of non-students broke out shortly after Santa Barbara’s 35-28 win. Five Oxnard Police Department officers were treated for injuries and five people were arrested.

Security was increased for the Oct. 18 Channel League contest between longtime rivals Buena and Oxnard at Oxnard High. Oxnard officials prohibited loitering, increased security at entrances and prohibited admission of students who have been expelled from the school district. No incidents were reported.

“I must admit that I get up real early and get home real late,” Rezinas said. “But I’ve felt all along that we have a very pleasant group of kids and an excellent staff, and our purpose is to give the kids the best education we can.”