OAK PARK : Search for Schools Chief Is Reopened

The board of the Oak Park Unified School District will reopen interviews in its search for a new superintendent because it was unable to come to terms with its top choice for the job, officials said Tuesday.

District officials were unable to reach a contract agreement with Castaic Supt. Scott Brown, who was selected from among five finalists for the job.

“We feel we are able to offer a competitive salary in relation to other Ventura County salaries, but we were unable to meet the needs of Brown,” board President Pat Kavulic said in a statement.

The new superintendent will replace retiring Oak Park Supt. Susan Hearn.

The Oak Park district is planning to pay at least $80,000 to the new superintendent. Brown’s current salary is more than $83,000. “We had a conversation about an entire contract. That conversation was not satisfactory to me,” Brown said Tuesday.

Kavulic said the board needed to be fiscally responsible given the uncertain future of state funding for schools.

Kavulic said the board now will re-interview some of the other finalists. She said the board hopes to stay with its original schedule and have a contract with a new superintendent by Dec. 1.

Board members and other Oak Park officials had toured the Castaic Union School District, in northern Los Angeles County, last week to interview Brown’s co-workers.

“We were very impressed with the schools we visited and especially his three principals and his staff,” Kavulic said.