Sherman Oaks : School Official Merits Top Post, Parents Say

A group of parents at Millikan Middle School in Sherman Oaks is lobbying school district officials to promote an assistant principal they believe has been overlooked during his 11-year tenure at the school.

Supporters say Norm Isaacs should be named principal of the 1,500-student campus, which has had four principals during the last six years and is currently in need of another. They have launched a petition drive to show their support.

“They’ve taken advantage of this guy long enough,” said Bobbie Shaw Chance, whose son is enrolled at Millikan and whose daughter attended the school in 1988. “He’s the guy who’s always there.”

Parents are frustrated by frequent administrative changes at the school in recent years and say Isaacs, who lives in Sherman Oaks, would provide the school with consistent leadership. Since principal Gladi Adams retired in 1989, three others have departed Millikan after serving for less than a year and a half--two retired and a third was promoted to a district post.

Isaacs, 51, admitted he is frustrated by the situation. He said he has pursued a principal’s post for the past six years.

“They all seem to acknowledge what I’ve done, but when it comes down to picking a new principal, they keep bringing people in here for a year,” Isaacs said. “I’ve paid my dues and done the job.”

This is the second time a group of parents has mobilized on Isaac’s behalf. An unsuccessful petition drive was launched in 1993 after the departure of principal David Almada. Almada instead was replaced by Pete Ferry, who retired last month.

“We feel we’re at the same point again,” said Rose Marie Fox, president of the school’s PTA and an Isaacs supporter. “For some cockeyed reason, they always find a reason to not promote him.”

Although no decision has yet been made about the Millikan post, Los Angeles Unified School District officials earlier called an in-school promotion unlikely. They said they’re reluctant to keep an administrator at one school for an extended period.

“The bottom line is that this man is the right one for the job, and he keeps getting overlooked,” Chance said.