New Simi Superintendent Will Be Chosen After Election

Offering a bittersweet concession to the seven challengers running for the Simi Valley school board, the present trustees will wait until after the election to tap a new superintendent.

Having winnowed the field of superintendent contenders from five to three after interviews Wednesday, the five trustees unanimously agreed to wait until Nov. 7 to conduct second interviews with the finalists. However, a superintendent will probably be chosen before the new board takes office Dec. 3.

The decision to delay the final round of interviews, board President Judy Barry said, is a way to balance two conflicting impulses: the need to permanently fill a three-month vacancy and the need to involve the one or more new trustees who will be elected Nov. 5. With three seats up for grabs and Barry not seeking reelection, the board composition will change.

“Since there will definitely be one new board member, we’re waiting so we can let them sit in on the interviews,” she said. “Not asking questions or participating, just observing. We thought that was a good compromise we could all live with.”

With time running out on interim Supt. Robert Purvis’ contract--he’s due to depart at the end of December--it’s important to make a decision quickly, Barry said. The ticking clock makes it impractical to hold off on a decision until the new board is seated.

Nonsense, school board contender Doug Crosse says.

“That’s a compromise? That’s not a compromise,” he said. “How is that a compromise--to let us sit in and not have a vote?”

A week ago, the seven challengers hoping to scoop up Barry’s post or unseat Trustees Debbie Sandland and Diane Collins fired off a letter asking for a delay in selection of a superintendent for the 18,596-student district.

Waiting to make the selection would increase the likelihood that the new administrator could gain the confidence of the full board, they argued. What the aspirants wanted was a delay until December, but that’s not what they got.

While grateful for the postponement, contender Janice DiFatta said it’s a slim difference between waiting until Nov. 7 or holding off until Dec. 3.

“The bottom line for me is I would like to see the newly seated board have a part in the selection process,” DiFatta said. “If we look at Nov. 7 as possibly the last interview [date], we are only talking three weeks until we form a new board. I think that three-week wait would be a good investment into our relationship with a new superintendent.”

The present board had a rocky relationship with former Supt. Mary Beth Wolford, who departed six months earlier than scheduled after clashing repeatedly with trustees.

After nearly 10 years with the Simi Valley Unified School District, Wolford abandoned her $102,485-a-year post in July after the board rejected her in-house choice to fill an administrative vacancy.

Purvis, who was the Simi Valley superintendent before Wolford, agreed to leave retirement for six months to help the district through its transition. But he cannot stay on much longer. Earning more than half of his previous salary gives him so much income that it would jeopardize his retirement.

Based on the rate of the selection process, Barry said the board could tap a new superintendent as soon as the Nov. 7 meeting. After giving the usual 60-day notice for a superintendent, the new schools chief could begin work in Simi Valley by mid-January.

“Had Mary Beth stayed [until December], we would have begun the selection process and let the new board finish it,” Barry said. “But we were cut six months short. When Mary Beth left, that changed the whole picture.”