Newport-Mesa Board President Steps Down

Just a week after being elected president by fellow Newport-Mesa Unified School District trustees, Jim de Boom resigned that job at Tuesday’s board meeting, but will remain on the board.

Also during the meeting, Trustee Ed Decker called for an immediate search for a new superintendent, even though the current top administrator, John W. Nicoll, has not indicated an intent to resign.

De Boom’s announcement came amid widespread criticism of the board and of the district’s top administrators by parents and teachers outraged over the embezzlement of more than $3.5 million by Stephen A. Wagner, former top financial officer, who pleaded guilty Tuesday.

Feeling that his own integrity was being questioned, De Boom said he resigned to maintain the integrity of the school board. In addition, he said his business is keeping him too busy to handle the duties of leading the board.

The superintendent, who is recovering from heart surgery, has come under fire in recent weeks while the district has attempted to deal with the criminal investigation involving Wagner.

“It is clear to me that the community has lost confidence in the Board of Education and in the key top administrators,” Decker said in calling for the search for a new superintendent. “We must accept the responsibility that we have made some mistakes and we must take whatever corrective measures are necessary.”

Board member Martha Fluor agreed with Decker.

But Roderick H. MacMillian, who will act as board president until a new one is selected next month, did not favor beginning the search for a new superintendent.

“I’m not willing to fire John Nicoll,” MacMillian said. “That places this entire blame (of the Wagner investigation) on him. My goodness, that’s ridiculous. I think time will work things out. We have to wait until John recovers from his current situation before we move on.”

At each of the last two board meetings, crowds have packed the community center, demanding the immediate ouster of the three top administrators and the resignation of several board members.

“When I was elected to the board, I was elected because of my community involvement and my communication skills, not my fiscal skills,” De Boom said in an interview Tuesday. “The more we thought about it, we realized we needed somebody with more positive fiscal skills.”

De Boom, who has been on the board since 1983, also said that his event-planning business now takes him from San Diego to Glendale to Palm Desert, and that he does not spend enough time in the district to serve as president.

As if to emphasize this problem, De Boom was an hour late for Tuesday’s board meeting because he was delayed by business in Los Angeles.

Times staff writer Mimi Ko contributed to this story.