Simi Trustees to Pick Interim Chief Soon

After teachers criticized the former board president for an hour, Simi Valley school trustees officially elected a new board president Tuesday night and set a timeline for selecting an interim schools chief to fill the vacancy left by Dan Flynn’s recent resignation.

In a unanimous vote, trustees elected Janice DiFatta, who has served as president since early February, to wield the gavel for the remainder of the school year.

Trustees also agreed to begin screening a list of interim superintendent candidates Thursday and said they plan to select someone Feb. 24 in closed session. That person will likely work for six months until the board can hire a permanent superintendent.

Board members were forced to choose a new president after Norm Walker stepped down from the mostly ceremonial post two weeks ago, saying he was upset with how three of his colleagues ultimately forced Flynn’s resignation Feb. 5.

More than 40 teachers showed up at Tuesday’s board meeting wearing yellow buttons with the word “thug” on it to demonstrate their anger at Walker. In a newspaper interview last week, Walker called the teachers’ union “thugs” in response to a heated newsletter written by union President Ginny Jannotto, who called for Walker to resign from the board altogether.

Teacher after teacher addressed the board to slam Walker, saying he had insulted and offended them with his name-calling. Many of the teachers vowed never to vote for Walker’s reelection.

“I find your words offensive and I believe you owe the teachers an apology,” said Ken Hibbitts, a teacher at Simi Valley High School.

“Our problems will go away when Norm steps off the board,” teacher Bern Allen said.”We survived a nuclear attack [from Walker’s] extremist, right-wing agenda.”

Walker responded that the accusations were inaccurate. He said that if the union could call for his resignation, then he should not be restricted to responding to such “bullying” tactics.

He characterized the newsletter as a ploy by the union to revisit the issue of whether all district teachers should be required to become union members.

“For those of you who are asking, I will not resign,” Walker said, citing several phone calls and faxes of support that he has received recently.

Two weeks ago, Walker and trustee Caesar Julian voted to keep Flynn on as superintendent. But DiFatta and trustees Carla Kurachi and Diane Collins accepted Flynn’s resignation after three months on the job.

Kurachi and Collins argued that Flynn had not learned the district’s complex financial system nor mastered its $150-million budget and was reorganizing the district--at Walker’s behest--without consulting all the board members.

Flynn was hired to lead the 19,500-student district on a divided vote in October, despite community concerns that trustees had not searched nationwide for a new superintendent. Instead, Flynn--a former Ventura County principal and Head Start coordinator in Los Angeles County--was the only candidate interviewed for the job.

Walker, Julian and DiFatta had originally voted to save money on a search firm and hire Flynn without considering anyone else.

To avoid future problems, however, trustees Tuesday voted on a more rigid procedure to hire their eighth schools chief, whether permanent or temporary, in less than eight years. This time, they agreed on the criteria they want to see in the next superintendent and also decided to create a committee made up of staff and residents to be on the interview panel.

Board members determined that the next superintendent of Ventura County’s largest school district must have these qualities: intelligence, strong leadership and communication skills, experience in budget management, as well as extensive experience in personnel, curriculum and collective bargaining.