COSTA MESA / NEWPORT BEACH : School District No. 2 Administrator Quits

The second-highest-ranking administrator at the Newport-Mesa Unified School District resigned this week to accept a job in Sacramento, school officials announced.

Carol A. Berg, who has been deputy superintendent for the last four years, has accepted a job with School Services of California, a private consulting firm. Berg will begin there on July 1.

“Although Newport-Mesa will always be near and dear to my heart,” Berg said, “this offer is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.”

Berg began her career in the Newport-Mesa district in 1969 as a science teacher at the former Davis Middle School. She later served as principal at the now-closed Corona del Mar Elementary School, then became director of certificated personnel and assistant superintendent.

She was made deputy superintendent in 1989, and held the job when the district was rocked in 1992 by a $4-million embezzlement scandal. Former district budget director Stephen A. Wagner has been sentenced to six years in prison on charges growing out of the case.

Following the resignation of Supt. John W. Nicoll after the Wagner incident, Berg became acting superintendent and ran the district on a day-to-day basis until Mac Bernd was hired in the summer as superintendent.

In her new job, Berg will be a consultant to the 1,100 school districts in the state. Her main function will be to explain to the districts how to interpret and implement legislation signed by the governor.

Berg was instrumental in the creation of two language assessment centers, which assist families that do not speak English but need to get children registered for classes. Her influence extended to staff development, parent education and additional instruction for some students during summer or Christmas vacations.