Simi School District Gets New Leader

A consensus-minded, fiscally conservative schools chief from Riverside County on Friday accepted the superintendent’s post in the tumultuous school system here.

“I believe that my job is to help focus the district on reaching its potential, and that potential is already here,” said Tate Parker, who will begin work as superintendent in Simi Valley on Jan. 2.

A soft-spoken single father of two grown children, Parker has led the Murrieta Unified School District in southwest Riverside County since 1991.

Parker’s acceptance of the $108,000-a-year job ends a stretch of Simi Valley school history that most participants would rather forget.

The 18,896-student school system has been without a permanent leader since Mary Beth Wolford abruptly resigned in June. After almost a decade with the Simi Valley Unified School District, Wolford left her $102,485-a-year post six months earlier than planned after repeated squabbles with the five-member school board. Robert Purvis, the Simi Valley schools chief before Wolford, agreed to leave retirement for six months to help the district through its transition.

A 56-year-old Phoenix native, Parker cast himself as just the consensus-builder for the district. “I’m a team player,” Parker said. “I don’t have a quote agenda that is personal to me. My agenda is that of the team.”

Turning to a search consultant, school trustees listed 19 criteria for selecting the new superintendent, including experience as a schools chief, success in conflict resolution, ability to work with a diverse community, and sensitivity to community “needs, values and expectations.” On the personal side, trustees sought a leader who listens well and has people skills and a sense of humor.

Trustee Norm Walker said Parker met those criteria handily.

“He brings to this district, I think, a demonstrated pursuit of excellence,” Walker said. “His grasp of budgetary procedures . . . was very attractive. Our district, like all districts really, needs someone at the helm who understands the economic ramifications of what we do.”

School board President Judy Barry said Parker understands the needs of Simi Valley parents and students.

“I don’t see [Parker] as coming in here all gangbusters looking to turn everything upside-down,” Barry said. “That probably wouldn’t go over real well with this community.”

Parker received a $13,000 raise in coming to Simi Valley, where he will also receive medical and retirement benefits. His 3 1/2-year contract also provides a $4,000 tax-sheltered annuity and will cover as much as $5,000 in moving expenses when Parker moves from the Rancho Bernardo area of San Diego to Simi Valley in January.

Despite hearing rumors of Simi Valley’s strife with Wolford, Parker said any apprehension he had vanished once he met the trustees.

“I was really taken by the school board--impressed by them,” Parker said. “I really believe I have the ability to work with this school board and build a great team.”

Parker came to education “late in life,” he said, after working in the airline industry for years.

After obtaining a bachelor’s degree in German literature in 1972 from San Francisco State University, he accepted his first teaching job. The avid sailor and walker worked his way from elementary school teacher to principal to assistant superintendent to superintendent in the intervening years.

Along the way, he worked for the Poway and Chula Vista school districts and the California Department of Education. Parker also picked up a master’s degree in education from San Diego State University and a doctorate in administration from USC.

His current school district, Murrieta Unified, is much smaller than the Simi Valley school system, with 9,100 students and 10 schools. Simi Valley has 26 schools. “I’m used to someplace about half this size,” Parker joked.

Turning serious, he said that Murietta, like Simi Valley, is a growing school system. Murietta’s enrollment has doubled in the last five years, he said, and the district has built five new schools in as many years.

Parker said building schools to accommodate swelling enrollment, crafting a strategic plan for growth, creating a zero-tolerance policy for drugs and starting a PTA council are among his Murrieta accomplishments.

To become familiar with Simi Valley before taking office, Parker intends to shadow Purvis in the next few weeks. He also plans to meet with PTA groups.

There will be plenty of time to become acclimated, Parker predicted. “I want to stay here awhile.”