SIMI VALLEY : Principal at High School to Resign

Dave Ellis, principal of Simi Valley High School for nine years, has announced that he plans to resign next month when the school year ends.

Ellis, 52, said he has requested reassignment to a counseling position.

“I think it’s time for change, for me as well as the school,” he said. “The kids deserve some new blood.”

Ellis, a former assistant principal at Royal High School, became principal at Simi Valley High during the 1983-84 school year.

He said he promised himself then that he would not serve more than seven years in the position.

“Then I woke up one day and said, ‘Hey, you’ve been doing this nine years. You better wake up and smell the roses,’ ” Ellis said. “I thought if I didn’t make a change now, I might end up being a principal forever.”

Ellis said he was a counselor for a brief period during his 14 years at Royal. Although it would mean a pay cut, Ellis said he would like to devote himself full time to such a position, either at the junior high or high school level. He said he would prefer counseling to teaching because he enjoys working one-on-one with students.

School board member Carla Kurachi said there is no way to know whether a counseling position will be available because of the state budget crisis.

“Certainly we need more counselors,” Kurachi said. “But the board has to figure out if we can afford it.”

She said the board probably will decide in June when it knows more about the budget for the new school year.

Kurachi said the board has not begun the search for a new principal.