School Board Votes to Oust Superintendent : Education: The panel decides not to renew the contract of nationally known Supt. George J. McKenna III after the county appointed a fiscal overseer because of mismanagement.

George J. McKenna III, a nationally known educator whose life as principal of a Los Angeles high school was chronicled in a TV movie, is losing his job as Inglewood schools chief amid academic decline and worsening fiscal conditions.

The Inglewood Unified School District board announced last week that it had decided not to renew the contract of the 53-year-old superintendent, who is known as an advocate for urban schools. The contract expires in June.

The 3-2 vote to end McKenna’s tenure was made in a closed session Aug. 25. That night, county education officials told the school board they were assigning a fiscal overseer to the district because of its “demonstrated failure to follow through with prudent fiscal policies.”

Such action has been taken against only three of the county’s 81 school districts.

“I think the embarrassment of having the county come in made them get rid of him,” said Christopher Graeber, executive director of Cal Pro, the union that represents non-teaching personnel in the district.

McKenna has not responded to phone calls from The Times. School board President Loystene Irvine would not comment on why the board wanted McKenna out, or when the search for his replacement would begin.

Larry Aubry, one of two board members who wanted to keep McKenna, said last week: “I think the timing’s bad. I think McKenna remains a national educational leader . . . and one that can help the district, particularly during this time. I think we need stability.”

Board members Thomasina Reed, Lois Hill Hale, and Irvin voted to oust McKenna. Aubry and Dexter Henderson wanted to retain him.

McKenna, a New Orleans native who makes more than $98,000 a year and who reportedly commands substantial fees on the lecture circuit, is regarded as being arrogant by some, although others see him as a tough, articulate advocate for urban schools.

Although academic and financial conditions in the Inglewood schools are not as bad as those in Compton, where state authorities have taken over virtually every aspect of decision-making from the local board, county intervention was a stunning comedown for a superintendent who was cheered by teachers, parents and residents as he signed his contract in 1988.

McKenna promised to work for fiscal solvency, effective schools and better conditions for the district’s Latino population, which has grown rapidly over the last decade to more than 50%.

But McKenna, who had little administrative experience, soon clashed with the teaching and non-teaching staff and met stiff opposition from the community and some board members when he tried to make personnel changes. Latino parents have lobbied the district for more bilingual teachers and services for their children.

Overall, student performance on state test scores has dipped. For example, test scores for eighth-graders fell 5% between 1990 and 1992. County education officials, moreover, have said the district is facing a deficit of about $2 million.

Although nationally known after the 1986 CBS-TV movie “The George McKenna Story,” the superintendent drew intense criticism for pursuing a speaking career that took him across the country.

But McKenna does have supporters in the district.

Former board member Joseph Rouzan, who left the board in April, said he was sorry to hear McKenna would be leaving because the superintendent had done a “creditable job under difficult circumstances.”

When McKenna took over, Rouzan said, he found that bills had not been paid and that accounts presumed healthy were actually empty.

What is more, Rouzan said, the board members persisted in what Rouzan called “micro-managing” the district, trying to have a say in every management decision.

“He had to have authorization to transfer a janitor,” Rouzan said.