NEWPORT BEACH, COSTA MESA : School Board OKs Changes in Jobs

The administrative shake-up that the Newport-Mesa Unified School District announced last week was made official Tuesday night when the school board voted unanimously to ratify the move.

Under the administrative realignment, the positions of deputy superintendent, assistant superintendent for business services and coordinator of student services will be eliminated. They will be replaced by three lower-level positions--directors of elementary and secondary education and community relations, saving about $20,000 in salaries.

Thomas Jacobson, principal at Corona del Mar High School, will become director of secondary education, while the two other positions will be filled by a nationwide search. The board also voted to create a new executive director of planning and program development, which will be filled by Dale Woolley, director of student support and research services.

The changes were facilitated because deputy superintendents Carol Berg and Thomas A. Godley recently announced that they are leaving the district to take jobs elsewhere.

Several other pending personnel changes will not be ratified by the school board until its next meeting May 10. These include a job swap between Hazel Rojas, principal at Adams Elementary School, and Barbara Harrington, principal at Kaiser Primary. Also to be ratified is the transfer of Steve Pavich, principal at Newport Harbor High School, to Sonora High. Sonora Principal Juan de Jesus will go to Whittier Elementary.