Zacarias Vows Not to Go Voluntarily

In an emotional appearance Saturday, embattled Los Angeles schools Supt. Ruben Zacarias told more than 1,000 cheering parents that he would not voluntarily leave his post.

“I want to clarify and put an end once and for all to certain rumors. Listen well: I have no intentions of resigning,” he said at a literacy conference at Hollenbeck Middle School in Boyle Heights.

Environmental problems at a new school construction project in South Gate prompted the school board Tuesday to appoint real estate attorney Howard Miller as chief executive, in charge of all L.A. Unified departments and divisions.

Allegations of poor management at that project came on the heels of a scathing report on the environmentally plagued Belmont Learning Complex and reported dissatisfaction with the district’s progress in other areas.

Miller, who will report only to Zacarias, is also charged with restructuring the district’s management.

But Zacarias has said he will not relinquish his direct authority over the district’s chain of command. In a recent letter from his attorney, he demanded that the board withdraw Miller’s appointment on grounds that it violated state open meeting laws. He also questioned Miller’s credentials.

Many of the parents at Saturday’s conference were miffed about board President Genethia Hayes’ seeming indifference to Zacarias’ position--and to their concerns about the hasty process in which Miller was appointed.

The appointment was made in closed session, and Hayes has repeatedly said the lines of authority are quite clear.

But the stalemate between Zacarias and Miller has confused district employees--from deputy superintendents to rank-and-file teachers--about the chain of authority.

In an interview, board member David Tokofsky suggested that the district’s patience is wearing out.

“There is confusion about who is in charge--and five days of it is five days too many,” Tokofsky said. “I’d like to see both men sit down with a mediator.”

But Zacarias acknowledged that he would have to leave his position if a majority of the seven-member board voted to buy out the remaining 18 months of his contract.

“The board of education, who I have great respect for, has every right to terminate my contract,” he said. “But I have no intentions of ending the mission we are on contract to carry out together.”

Saturday’s gathering was billed as a “Parent Literacy Summit” aimed at helping parents become more involved in improving the reading skills of their children. Although all seven members of the board were invited, only Tokofsky showed up.

The formal business of the meeting was delayed 40 minutes while hundreds of well-wishers waited in line to embrace Zacarias and urge that he not cave in to the board’s effort to diminish his authority.

Dozens of other parents and children crowded around Zacarias clutching children’s books they wanted him to autograph. Among them was Irma Ventura, who wanted him to sign her child’s copy of “Chocolate Chippo Hippo.”

“Ruben Zacarias is an important man to our children and this community,” she said. “He wants to improve their education and this whole community. And he’s from here, like us.”

Others, such as Sigifredo Lopez of the East Los Angeles Bilingual-Bicultural Committee, manned tables just outside the school’s boundary and distributed fliers urging community demonstrations in support of Zacarias and against the board.

At least three such demonstrations are to be held at district headquarters this week. Others were being planned for various schools. Lopez was preparing to hit the Spanish-language airwaves with supportive messages.

“They aren’t just attacking Zacarias,” he said. “They are attacking our entire community.”