NEWPORT BEACH : Supt. Nicoll Critically Ill After Surgery

Newport-Mesa Unified School District Supt. John W. Nicoll was in critical condition Friday at Hoag Hospital after suffering from a bleeding ulcer this week after quadruple-bypass heart surgery.

“He was supposed to come home Tuesday, the day he got the bleeding ulcer,” Nicoll’s son, Larry, 45, said. Doctors “stopped the bleeding, but it’s complicated things quite a lot. It’s a wait-and-see game now.”

Hospital officials said Nicoll, 70, is being cared for in the critical-care unit, where he was listed in critical condition.

“His heart surgery is getting along just fine,” said school board President Forrest K. Werner, adding that Nicoll had the same ulcer problem five years ago. “But that’s totally unrelated.

“We’ve had a very stressful year in our district, and it just so happened that right after his surgery, his ulcer recurred,” he said.

Nicoll has served as a superintendent of schools in three school districts--the last 21 years with Newport-Mesa.

“We’re anxiously awaiting his recovery and his return because he’s been in charge for so long. It’s kind of unnatural for him not to be here,” Werner said. “However, the district is in good hands.”

While Nicoll is away, Deputy Supt. Carol Berg is assuming his duties.

After Nicoll is released from the Hoag, he will be advised to stay home for another six weeks to recuperate, hospital officials said.