SIMI VALLEY : School Official Quits to Assume New Post

An administrator at the Simi Valley Unified School District has resigned to take a position as superintendent of an 1,100-student district in central California.

Ralph E. Wilson, a Simi Valley assistant superintendent responsible for preparing the district’s budget and handling school earthquake repairs, will become top administrator for the Gustine Unified School District in Merced County this fall.

The 63-year-old head of administrative services had been in Simi Valley only one year.

“The opportunity arose and I thought it was a good time,” Wilson said Monday, his last day in the Simi Valley job.

Simi Valley Supt. Mary Beth Wolford said Wilson’s duties will be shared by various district officials until a replacement is found, it is hoped, by the start of the school year.

“It’s a tremendous job,” she said of Wilson’s position. “I anticipate that I will be kind of alone for the rest of the summer until we can find a replacement for him.”

Before joining Simi Valley Unified last year, Wilson served as an assistant superintendent for the Barstow Unified School District for three years and had worked previously as an administrator in several other school districts.

Wilson said his year in Simi Valley has been memorable.

“We had some major budget deficits and we’ve dealt with them reasonably well,” he said. “And then, of course, the earthquake has been a major (issue).”

Luckily, he said, “most of the heavy duty work is done.”