Irvine Schools Chief Leaving for Job in Florida

The superintendent of highly touted Irvine Unified School District has agreed to take the top education post in Orlando, Fla., leaving a generally affluent school system known for its involved parents and businesses for an urban district five times bigger, in which half the students rely on free or reduced-price meals.

“It was a real struggle--professionally and personally--to decide to leave Irvine,” Dennis Smith said Monday. “I love Irvine. But this is indeed a very unique opportunity.”

On July 1, Smith will assume his new position as the superintendent of Florida’s 130,000-student Orange County School District. He will be heading the 16th-largest school system in the nation, one that dwarfs Irvine’s 23,000-student population.

Smith said he plans to stay on at Irvine Unified through June. A search firm will select several candidates for his replacement.

“Hopefully we will find someone as good as Dennis,” said Steve Garretson, president of Irvine Unified’s teachers association. “After the [county] bankruptcy was over, he bought stability to the district and certainly brought good relations with the teachers.”

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After serving as superintendent of schools in El Cajon and Laguna Beach, Smith came to Irvine in 1995 as the district faced $2 million in budget cuts in the wake of the bankruptcy. Last year, he helped found the Irvine Public Schools Foundation, which raises more than $1 million annually for schools through corporate partnerships and community sponsors.

His emphases on early reading programs and school technology has earned him praise from local educators and business executives. Florida school officials agreed and said they were also impressed with his disarming and communicative demeanor.

“Everyone thought he showed tremendous leadership skills and that he is a team player,” said Florida board member Bill Spoone. “He has a positive attitude and seems to be a people person. If you are a leader in a smaller district, you can carry those same characteristics to a larger district.”

Several Florida school officials visited Irvine schools Monday. They return to Orange County, Fla., today to formally confirm Smith.

s Smith was chosen for the Florida post over Peter Horoshak, who heads the Albuquerque school system. Smith turned down the Florida offer when first approached two months ago. He reconsidered when contacted again two weeks ago.

“I felt I owed it to myself and the family to investigate the Orange County School District [in Florida] as a possibility,’ Smith said.

With his two children attending Laguna Beach public schools, Smith said he was reluctant to take the Florida job because it would mean his children would have to relocate. But after his eighth-grade son called him at work last week to say he was willing to move, Smith agreed to take the job.