Supt. Castruita of Santa Ana Named No. 1 School Chief

Bringing Orange County its second top state education honor in as many weeks, Santa Ana Unified School District Supt. Rudy M. Castruita was named Superintendent of the Year by the Assn. of California School Administrators, officials announced Thursday.

“Santa Ana Unified is proof that the immigrant and diverse student population can be an opportunity rather than a problem for school officials,” said Wesley L. Apker, executive director of the 15,000-member group, referring to Castruita’s leadership of the county’s most ethnically diverse district.

The district has 46,000 students, of whom 84% are Latino and 10% of Asian extraction. More than half of the students in the district, the largest in the county and the eighth-largest in the state, have little or no knowledge of English.

“Our students have special needs,” Castruita said Thursday. “But if we work and give the kids the opportunity to respond, they will. We have done that in Santa Ana. And still we have so much growth ahead.”

Dozens of nominations were submitted, then the four judges whittled the list down to nine semifinalists before picking Castruita, 47.

“Rudy was the clear winner,” Apker said. “He has done amazing things with the community, business partnerships and faculty. He’s really pulled them together to focus on the success of the students.”

With the award, Castruita immediately becomes eligible to enter the competition for a national award from the American Assn. of School Administrators. Castruita’s award comes a week after a La Habra teacher was named the 1992 state Teacher of the Year.

Since his 1988 appointment, the superintendent has established a thriving, state-recognized educational program in a district once plagued by low teacher morale, salary negotiation fights and a stagnant bureaucracy.

Castruita has become a familiar face to students by frequently visiting district schools. Colleagues say his hands-on approach has made him a role model to many students, especially Latinos, both in the district and outside it.

He proved that last school year during a countywide rally at Orange Coast College’s stadium, where students joined teachers and parents to plead for more education money from the state. For more than two hours, Castruita played the role of a drill-team sergeant, leading Santa Ana students in chants and cheers while other administrators mingled under a canopy.

Under Castruita, the district has begun bilingual education programs that eventually became models for the state. He also started a series of workshops to help teachers learn about the latest instructional techniques and forged a closer relationship with the teachers union.

Although the district continues to fall below the state average on most achievement tests, the scores have increased over the past few years. And it has managed to improve in other areas, such as lowering dropout rates and increasing high school graduates.

Last week the state Department of Education named Maria Azucena Vigil, a kindergarten teacher at Las Lomas Elementary School in La Habra, California Teacher of the Year for her work with bilingual students.

“This dual award is certainly unique,” county Supt. of Schools John F. Dean said. “It shows that Orange County is truly blessed with great teachers and fine administrators. We must be doing something right.”