Trustees OK Moving School Administrator
Unswayed by public sentiment, the Board of Trustees of the Oxnard Union High School District on Friday approved the transfer of a popular Hueneme High administrator to Frontier High.
Meeting in closed session, the board went along with the recommendation of Supt. Bill Studt and transferred Daisy Tatum, who had been vice principal at Hueneme High for 12 years.
Tatum, 48, will become interim principal at Frontier, a continuation high school with 400 students. Joanne Black, Frontier’s principal, will move to Hueneme as interim principal, replacing Terry Taylor, who cannot work because of illness.
At a regular board meeting Wednesday night, dozens of Hueneme parents, students and teachers protested Tatum’s reassignment, calling her the backbone of the school.
Board President Janet Lindgren said Friday that she isn’t worried about community backlash.
“Mrs. Tatum is talking to parents and letting them understand this is a good situation for her and that her students at Hueneme will be well taken care of,” Lindgren said.
Tatum, who was in her new office at Frontier on Friday, wasn’t consulted about the move but said she accepts it.
“Hueneme is my home,” she said, “but maybe it’s time to grow up and go away.”
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