3 Finalists Considered for Chief of L.A. Schools

The Los Angeles Board of Education on Sunday concluded its interviews of candidates for superintendent, narrowing the field to three finalists who are actively seeking the job.

Deliberations are scheduled to continue behind closed doors this morning, but board members were backing away from a self-imposed deadline to make the selection today.

“I’m not sure about that,” board President Genethia Hayes said.

She said the board members could decide today but may want to spend more time comparing the candidates.

“We have a good pool of credible people, all of whom have strengths and weaknesses,” Hayes said.

The board spent about two hours Sunday morning talking for a second time to the latest candidate, an official from another school district who has asked that her name not be disclosed.

The board now has completed two interviews with each of the three finalists. The other two are former Colorado Gov. Roy Romer, who heads the Democratic National Committee, and former Chicago Board of Education President George Munoz, the chief of a federal agency that assists businesses investing in developing countries.

A fourth candidate, former Charlotte, N.C., schools Supt. John Murphy, was reported Saturday to have dropped his candidacy but has told one board member that he would be available if the board wants him.

“Murphy said the board knows where I am,” board member David Tokofsky said.

Several others have spurned the job, including the board’s favorite, former San Antonio Mayor Henry Cisneros, who cited family considerations in declining.

The board is trying to name the new superintendent by today so that he or she can help interim Supt. Ramon C. Cortines implement a massive reorganization set to take effect July 1, the day after Cortines’ scheduled departure from the district.

The search process grew testy late last week when three board members told reporters that they were disappointed in the candidate background checks done by the search firm, Hamilton, Rabinovitz and Aschuler.

Hayes on Sunday said she and another board member were so outraged by the comments that they were thinking of rebuking their colleagues in a letter to the news media. Hayes said the board members committed a “grievous” breach of professionalism and damaged the reputation of the firm by leveling public criticism without raising a complaint directly with the firm.

However, Hayes said she did not take up the subject in closed session because she wanted no distraction from the deliberations.

On leaving Sunday’s session, board member Julie Korenstein said she thought the board’s deliberations were finally getting focused. She also was unwilling to predict a decision by today.