College Trustee Quits to Take Butte County Job : Education: Gregory Kampf, a Ventura elementary school principal, cites a lack of intra-district promotions.

Gregory Kampf, a Ventura County Community College District trustee and principal of E.P. Foster Elementary School in Ventura, said Saturday he will resign those posts to take an administrative job in a Northern California school district.

Kampf, 39, will become the director of personnel and administrative services in the Oroville elementary school system in Butte County.

One reason Kampf decided to leave Ventura, he said, was because he feels the Ventura Unified School District has chosen to hire from outside rather than promoting from within.

“A lot of people are leaving Ventura Unified,” Kampf said. “I worked 14 1/2 years in the Ventura Unified School District, seven as a teacher and 7 1/2 as a principal, and at some point, you have to look at other possibilities.”

“It’s a promotional opportunity for me that I couldn’t pass up.”

Although he has yet to officially resign his trustee position, his last day at the Foster school will be Monday. Kampf is scheduled to begin work in Oroville on Friday.

Kampf said recent controversies surrounding former Trustee James T. (Tom) Ely and the Community College District had nothing to do with his decision to move on.

“I feel very good about the district,” Kampf said. “I feel confident about the direction Dr. Lakin is taking.” Thomas G. Lakin was appointed district chancellor in July.

John Gennaro, president of the Ventura Unified Educators Assn., shares Kampf’s view about the trend toward outside recruitment.

“It’s been a concern of ours for a long time,” Gennaro said. “We feel not enough consideration has been given to people within the district. We call on the school board for some kind of balance.”

Gennaro offered as an example the recent hiring of two outsiders as principals of Buena and Ventura high schools.

“At least one could have been filled by someone already in the district,” Gennaro said. “It’s a deliberate attempt to bring in outside folks.”

But Richard Averett, the district’s assistant superintendent of human resources and personnel services, said the trend toward outside recruitment is largely a matter of perception.

“A list of new administrative employees reveals that the majority of positions have been filled from within the district,” Averett said.

Kampf said he will continue as a trustee while commuting between Oroville and Ventura for about the next six months while his family tries to sell a house in Oxnard. Kampf’s wife, Cynthia, is a teacher in the Oxnard Elementary School District and is scheduled to work there until next June.

Kampf began his current stint as trustee representing parts of Ventura, Oxnard and unincorporated areas between the two cities in 1989. Kampf had previously served on the board from 1981 to 1983.