New Schools Chief Found Right at Home

After scouring the nation for a new superintendent, the Hacienda La Puente Unified School District has found one in its own back yard.

The district plans to hire Andrew Cazares, a 26-year veteran administrator with the mammoth Los Angeles Unified School District, who lives in Hacienda Heights.

Cazares, 56, is currently an assistant superintendent for Los Angeles Unified. He was expected to be confirmed by the school board to the $98,000-a-year job Thursday night.

In his years with the Los Angeles district, Cazares has coordinated student integration programs, worked in school-government relations, administered federal programs for low-income students, helped restructure schools and revamp instructional programs, among other things.

“He’s a wonderful match for our district and really the kind of leadership we’ve been looking for,” said Lyla Eddington, president of the Hacienda La Puente Board of Education.

The district serves about 21,992 students, of whom 60.7% are Latino, 16.7% are Asian, 15.5% are Anglo and 7.1% are other ethnic groups.

Cazares, who is Latino, spent years as a teacher and principal in various East Los Angeles schools and is familiar with the challenges of a large urban school district.

He received his bachelor’s degree in social science from Cal State Los Angeles in 1964 and earned a master’s in education there in 1970. Cazares makes about $90,000 a year in his present post with Los Angeles Unified, which he has held since 1985.

Cazares, whose two children attend Hacienda La Puente public schools, will take over March 1, replacing James E. Johnson, who retired last June after 7 years as superintendent.

Hacienda La Puente launched a national search for Johnson’s successor, screening 40 applicants and interviewing 11 hopefuls with the help of an advisory committee that included teachers, students, parents, administrators and classified employees, Eddington said.

Cazares takes over a district that has been plagued with problems in recent years. A 1992 state audit and a consultant’s report commissioned by the school board turned in highly critical analyses of the Hacienda La Puente Adult Education program, one of the largest such programs in the state.

There is friction between some Latino parents and school officials over the focus and quality of bilingual education. In addition to longtime Latino residents, the district has seen an influx of Chinese-speaking students and has been forced to re-tailor its programs to meet their needs.

Like many other districts, Hacienda La Puente has struggled with budget shortfalls, high dropout rates and wavering test scores, as well as gangs and violence from nearby neighborhoods that threaten to engulf children beginning as early as elementary school.

But as an assistant superintendent for Los Angeles Unified, which, at 640,000 students, is the second largest in the nation, Cazares says he relishes tough battles.

“Having been in (Los Angeles Unified School District) for 26 years, I’m not a stranger to problems,” Cazares said. “You set about the task of not only solving them but trying to be proactive. I am ready and eager to fulfill my obligations. . . . which will result in markedly higher achievement by all students.”