Board appoints new principal

School board members Tuesday unanimously approved Donald Austin as the high school’s new principal.

The hiring process for Austin came after the controversial resignation of Principal Nancy Blade in early February.

Despite an attempt by Blade to rescind her resignation ? and hundreds of supporters petitioning to have her reinstated ? the board declined to accept the requests.

“I’m in the process of saying goodbye while looking forward to moving on,” Austin said, after announcing his departure to his staff at La Sierra High School in Riverside on Wednesday morning.

Austin intends to move into his new Arch Beach Heights home with his wife and three children in late May.

“My family and I are very excited about this opportunity,” Austin said.

Austin will finish the school year as principal of La Sierra, where he has served for the last five years. He will begin his new position in Laguna Beach on July 1. Austin’s children, ages 5, 7 and 10, will attend Top of the World school next year.

Austin was nominated to the board through a screening process that involved interviews conducted by two separate panels of staff members, parents, community members and a student.

Both interviewing panels unanimously approved Austin, Keller said.

Interviews with Supt. Theresa Daem and Assistant Supt. Steven Keller were also administered with writing and leadership tests.

“Dr. Austin was clearly the top candidate from start to finish. His experience, education and enthusiasm were unparalleled. Perhaps most impressive were Dr. Austin’s multiple references that helped to confirm that he was the best match for the Laguna Bach community,” Keller said.

Interview questions were created in response to a community input session administered by education consultant Frank Cosca.

More than 100 people attended a district-sponsored input session in March that was designed to identify the community’s needs in a high school principal.

“Nowhere in the initial questions was there a question on curriculum or budget because we gave priority to the input questions,” Keller said.

Some of the question topics included team-building, staff involvement in decisions, parent participation and managing students’ academic, social, emotional and physical needs.

“He was able to connect with each person on the panel in a very genuine way,” Keller said.

No protests of the hiring were made during the Tuesday night board meeting. cpt.28-principal-CPhotoInfoGP1QCULK20060428iycseinc(LA)Donald Austin