VENTURA : 2 Finalists Named to Head New School

Two Ventura elementary school principals have been chosen as the leading contenders to head a proposed back-to-basics school in the district.

Dan I. Munday, principal of Poinsettia School, is the first choice to run the school that Ventura officials hope to launch in the fall, district Personnel Director Gerald Dannenberg said.

Jose Montano, principal of Will Rogers School, is the alternate.

Munday and Montano have agreed to accept the job if chosen, Dannenberg said. Meanwhile, both will serve on a committee of district staff, parents and community members to form a plan for the school.

As envisioned by Supt. Joseph Spirito, the back-to-basics school will replace one of the district’s 17 elementary schools.

In addition to having stricter discipline and a more stringent dress code than other district schools, the new school will require every parent to volunteer a certain number of hours each week.

Dannenberg said school officials chose Munday from a handful of candidates for the principal’s job because he demonstrated the greatest enthusiasm for the back-to-basics educational format.

But district officials may choose Montano if they decide to locate the new school in a primarily Spanish-speaking neighborhood. Montano is bilingual.

“We just want to have some flexibility,” Dannenberg said.

Parents and community members interested in serving on the committee to launch the school should call Dannenberg at 652-7287.