Centinela Valley High School District Names Superintendent

Riverside educator Joseph M. Carrillo has been appointed superintendent of the Centinela Valley Union High School District, replacing interim Supt. Tom Barkelew, effective June 1.

Carrillo, 48, currently serves as the assistant superintendent of human resources for the Riverside Unified School District and is a former assistant superintendent of personnel for the Downey Unified School District.

He competed with 51 other applicants for the top administrator’s job in Centinela Valley, which has 6,000 students. Carrillo, appointed by Centinela Valley’s Board of Trustees on Tuesday, will receive an annual salary of $95,000.

Carrillo inherits a culturally diverse school district that has been plagued in recent years by racial tensions, student walkouts and stormy board meetings. Over the past two years, more than a dozen black employees filed complaints alleging discrimination by the predominantly Latino school board.

In an interview this week, Carrillo described the turmoil as “issues in the past.”

“They did occur. I did hear about them,” Carrillo said. “But those are historical references. The issue now is how can we make the learning environment more productive and beneficial to the student as well as to reach out to the community and address their concerns. I plan to be visible and accessible. It’s a challenging and wonderful opportunity to work with an excellent board.”

Carrillo said his goal is to help make sure that students graduating from the district’s high schools will succeed, even if they do not go to college.

“My role is to assure that the learning environment is most productive,” Carrillo said. “I view it as a good district. Our commitment is to the achievement of students. That’s our mission.”

Carrillo, a native of Southern California who lives in Costa Mesa, holds a doctorate in education administration from USC, a master’s degree in social work administration and a bachelor of arts degree from San Diego State University.