San Gabriel : School Board Head Resigns

Voters in the San Gabriel Unified School District will choose a new school board member in a special election Nov. 2 to replace board President Dominic L. Shambra, who submitted his resignation last week.

Shambra, an administrator with the Los Angeles Unified School District, said Thursday that his professional duties interfere increasingly with his role on the San Gabriel board. In the last three months, Shambra said, job-related travel forced him to miss half the San Gabriel board meetings.

After Shambra steps down June 30, the school board will continue with four members until the election. The new member will serve until November, 1995.

Shambra said his 20 years of service on the board have been a positive experience. He said he had second thoughts about leaving when, three days after making his decision public, he learned that the Alhambra Board of Education had filed a lawsuit on June 9 to overturn the April, 1992, vote to unify San Gabriel’s schools.

Under unification, San Gabriel became responsible for educating its high school students, who are now taught in Alhambra. Boards of education in both cities last week agreed that Alhambra would educate San Gabriel students at least through next school year. San Gabriel has no high school campus.

Shambra said it is upsetting to have Alhambra file suit during “good faith negotiations to resolve” matters between the districts. Although he regrets leaving while his district’s plans are incomplete, he said he would not change his decision. “If I had more time, I’d be right in it, believe me,” he said.