ORANGE COUNTY PERSPECTIVE : Board a Weak Plank in School Reform?

The announcement that embattled Supt. John W. Nicoll will step down ought to point the troubled Newport-Mesa Unified School District in the right direction for the new year. But there is much more to be done. Certainly the restoration of confidence will be first on the district’s list for 1993. To do that will be no small task. The district may need to make a broader sweep of the administration. Take charge, Board of Education.

The board, after all, must be at the center of any course correction. It has been besieged by angry parents who have witnessed their district endure the messy fallout from the largest embezzlement case in the history of California schools. At the very least, the board’s New Year’s resolution must be to get a better grasp on the broom. It must do a much more convincing job of insisting on accountability.

The district clearly needs to have higher expectations for administrators too. Don’t leave it to the parents and teachers to look over the shoulder of those who manage day-to-day fiscal affairs.

This has been a very tough year indeed, one that included a startling revelation of how out of control things had become by year’s end. First there was the hand-wringing about overcrowded classrooms, employee layoffs and supply shortages. Then came the arrest and guilty plea of Stephen A. Wagner, the school system’s former finance director, after the looting of at least $3.5 million from district accounts.

This is a district that needs help getting on its feet. Take the help of the California School Boards Assn., which will meet with the board soon to discuss the search for a superintendent. Also allow parents and teachers to have a larger say.

In the end, there can be no substitute for leadership on the board. That has been a glaring weak spot in the district’s armor. Nicoll’s departure can be a turning point. But don’t stop there. Keep working to get this district back on track.