Chris Moran
The San Diego Union - Tribune
Mar 14, 1998. pg. B.1
DEL MAR -- Four anonymous school administrators will come to town next week to make their pitches to run Del Mar's elementary schools.
The five school board members who will interview the mystery visitors won't identify them -- not their names, gender, ethnicity or state of residence. In fact, four won't talk about the search at all, deferring to board president Jeanne Waite for comment.
By early April, Waite said, the board expects to announce its choice.
"With all of the tremendous growth in our district, we look forward to identifying a superintendent that will move us into the next century," Waite said.
The candidates' identities are being shielded for fear that public knowledge of their candidacy could hurt their relationship with their present employers, Waite said.
Waite commended the performance of Interim Superintendent Herb Farrar, but said that his role is limited largely to caretaker and information gatherer until a permanent replacement arrives. Authority to establish a vision through which the kindergarten- through-sixth-grade district can tackle its challenges -- namely growth -- resides in a permanent leader, she said.
The growth is stunning. The current enrollment of 1,872 is distributed among three schools. A fourth is under construction in Carmel Valley. The district's projected enrollment when the school opens in September is 2,067, a 10 percent student population increase in one year.
Waite said the district may build two more schools within the next three years.
The school board placed former Superintendent Robert Harriman on administrative leave on Oct. 18 for reasons that neither board members nor Harriman have fully disclosed.
Credit: STAFF WRITER
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