NEWPORT BEACH : Process of Finding Schools Chief Starts

The Newport-Mesa Unified School District Board of Education held a special meeting this week at which two executive search firms made bids for the job of finding a new superintendent for the embattled district.

Though no decision was made, Tuesday’s meeting was the first step in the district’s nationwide search to fill the superintendent’s office by the end of spring.

Representatives of the California School Boards Assn., based in West Sacramento, and Korn/Ferry International of Century City made presentations during the 2 1/2-hour meeting.

A third firm, School Services of California, has submitted a written bid but was unable to give an oral presentation Tuesday night.

The district was forced to embark on the search after longtime Supt. John W. Nicoll announced his retirement in December, citing health reasons.

The school district leadership came under intense criticism from the community after it was discovered that Stephen A. Wagner, the district finance chief, had embezzled at least $4 million from district accounts, shaking up an already unstable financial situation. Wagner, who pleaded guilty to embezzlement last month, is awaiting sentencing.

The school board anticipates announcing the selection of a search firm by Tuesday. Until then, the district will continue to accept bids, Trustee Jim de Boom said.

Board President Roderick H. MacMillian said district officials are looking for a search firm that can find a candidate who can assume leadership in the financially troubled district.

“We want to make sure they have time and manpower to choose the best superintendent possible and to first canvass the community to find out what residents want,” MacMillian said. “We want them to get the whole reflection of the community and come up with a profile and then find a person to fit that profile.”

Officials with Korn/Ferry, which has offices around the world, said the board could expect to hire a superintendent within three or four months after initiating a search. The price tag for a Korn/Ferry search would be about $42,000, including expenses--roughly twice as high as the bids from the other two firms.

Korn/Ferry has found superintendents for Capistrano, Irvine and Laguna Beach Unified school districts.

Richard Montgomery, president of the California School Boards Assn., told the board that the cost of his firm’s search would be about $20,000 after expenses and that the search would take four to five months. The company has done searches for school districts in Placentia, Buena Park and Fullerton, he said.