Replacement of School Chief Draws Protests

The Montebello Unified School District Board has named a new superintendent despite protests from parents and teachers who demanded an explanation for the departure of the previous administrator.

Deputy Supt. Maggie Carillo Mejia was unanimously chosen last week to replace Norman Kirschenbaum.

Kirschenbaum, who had made it known that he would retire in July 2000, said some board members told him they wanted the district to begin moving in a new direction and encouraged him to step down. He remains a consultant to the district. Since he took charge in 1995, Kirschenbaum has been widely credited with helping the district emerge from financial chaos.

Some angry parents and teachers accused board members of nudging out Kirschenbaum, who is white, to make way for a Latino to head the district, where about 90% of students are Latino.

“We believe it is race-related,” said sixth-grade teacher Irving Rivas Bartikofsky. “They never asked what was good for the community.”

But board members said race played no part in their decision, adding that they could not give specific reasons for the change because it is a personnel issue.

“My decision to change superintendents was not racially motivated in any way,” school board member Frank Gomez said in an interview. “I did not see with the current superintendent that we were pushing our children and our employees at the district to perform at the level that I would wish.”