State Names New Administrator for Compton School District
State officials on Friday named Long Beach school administrator Randolph E. Ward to run the 28,000-student Compton school district, which has been under state control for three years and is still struggling to emerge from debt and poor student test scores.
Ward, an area superintendent who oversees 24 schools with 21,000 students in Long Beach, starts the new job Monday and will be the fourth state administrator to head the troubled Compton district this calendar year. Compton school board trustees are pressing for the return of local control.
“I’m not so naive to think I’ll be welcomed with hugs and kisses,” Ward said. But, “I truly believe the board wants the same things I want. They want what’s good for kids.”
In Long Beach, Ward was the first principal to implement a school uniform policy that later spread throughout the district and won praise from President Clinton.
Start your day right
Sign up for Essential California for news, features and recommendations from the L.A. Times and beyond in your inbox six days a week.
You may occasionally receive promotional content from the Los Angeles Times.
