Ex-Schools Chief Accepts Interim Post

Acting in a hastily called special session to discuss the sudden resignation of Supt. Mary Beth Wolford, Simi Valley school trustees on Wednesday asked her predecessor to fill in as interim schools chief.

Robert Purvis, who retired from the district in June 1993, accepted the position Wednesday evening. He will begin work July 1 and receive Wolford’s weekly salary of about $1,970.

Trustees said they chose the former superintendent because he was familiar with the district and was successful in a role as interim superintendent at a Los Angeles County school district.

“He has a very good reputation,” trustee Debbie Collins said. “He is a people person and a facilitator, and he has a record of being able to come into a district.”

Trustees said that in addition to running the district, Purvis will help in the search for a new superintendent and an assistant superintendent for personnel, a position that has been vacant since April.

Trustees also discussed hiring a consultant to recruit applicants.

Wolford announced this week that she would end her nearly 10-year tenure on Friday--six months earlier than she had planned.

The decision took trustees by surprise. They were counting on Wolford to steer the district through a restructuring of the schools this fall, as well as to launch plans to redraw school boundaries to accommodate growth.

In addition to overseeing the boundary study and the addition of ninth-graders to the city’s three-year high schools, Wolford had promised to stay until December to see through the opening of a magnet high school, the building of two junior high school gymnasiums and the completion of a high school stadium.

Citing “personal and professional” reasons, Wolford said Tuesday that she no longer thought she could make a difference at the district.