OXNARD : Principal at High School Quits Post

Oxnard High School Principal Rick Rezinas has resigned from his post amid allegations by parent leaders that the educator’s efforts to reform the school were stymied by some teachers.

Hired to take over the principal’s job after Oxnard High School was rocked by a violent brawl between black and Latino students in February, 1991, Rezinas notified Oxnard Union High School District officials last week that he is resigning Aug. 31.

“I think I’ve done what I could do here at Oxnard High School,” Rezinas said Monday. He declined to elaborate on the reasons for his departure.

Although Rezinas said he hopes to find a job as a school-district administrator in another area, he has not secured a position yet.

Supt. Bill Studt said Rezinas’ efforts to restructure the school had no bearing on his decision to resign. “This is Rick’s decision,” he said. “He’s looking to move up and move on.”

Rezinas’ resignation comes in the middle of a four-year period during which he had been attempting to restructure the school with the help of a $116,400 state grant, which he helped secure.

His departure also will come just months before the scheduled January, 1995, move of Oxnard High’s 2,400 students and their teachers to a new campus on Gonzales Road.

Betty Herold, a former school Parent Teacher Student Assn. president who is still active at the school, said Rezinas’ efforts to restructure Oxnard High were resisted by some teachers.

“There are a lot of teachers that just do not want to change their style of teaching,” she said.

Representatives of the Oxnard Federation of Teachers could not be reached for comment.

With the state restructuring funds, Rezinas had hoped to institute several reforms, including a still-pending proposal to establish homeroom classes that could encourage interaction among students of different ages.

But Rezinas’ most controversial proposal was for a year-round school calendar, which sparked heated opposition from some teachers and was eventually dropped.

Oxnard High science teacher Herb Suskin said Rezinas made the mistake of taking advice from a small group of teachers who are out of touch with most of their colleagues. “I think he could have presented a better picture to the faculty” of his ideas for restructuring, Suskin said.

Suskin said Rezinas “had a really difficult job.” He added that some veteran teachers find it difficult to change their instructional methods. “You get set in your ways,” he said.