Ocean View names new leader

Retired from public service, consultant Alan Rasmussen didn’t expect to go back to a full-time job at a school district. But after a year helping to run Ocean View School District in his old hometown of Huntington Beach, he had a change of heart.

Rasmussen has agreed to take over the top post with the district, officials said. He will take over the job from Interim Supt. Ed Sussman Jan. 1, 2008.

The district hasn’t had a permanent head since last December, when former Supt. Karen Colby retired after she was placed on administrative leave. Nearly a year since then, working with Ed Sussman as a consultant to the district helped change Rasmussen’s mind. The fact that he already has a house in Huntington Beach helped as well.

“I really have grown to have a great deal of respect for what is being done here,” Rasmussen said. “When you look at the academic achievement, this is phenomenal. The instructional program is very sound.”

He said he would inherit a district in good shape, but said a couple of issues would need attention: declining enrollment and finding the best use for the closed school sites. That use would not involve selling them, he said.

“We’ll be assessing all of our sites,” he said. “It’s not to sell them, but to see if we can generate highest and best use for our facilities when we lease them. A priority will be maintaining open space for youth programs and children in the Ocean View district.”

Rasmussen and Sussman were part of an interim team that got high marks throughout the district, solving a crisis in confidence and working to turn its budget problems around, Ocean View School Board President Tracy Pellman said.

“They were a dynamic duo,” she said. “Plus, with Carlene Chandler as our [chief financial officer], we had the dynamic trio in there. It was like the A-team, an all-star team.”

Sussman called his colleague a great choice.

“He was the best available person for the job,” he said. “You have to have someone who knows the district and has credibility with the board, staff and the community. He certainly fits that profile.”

Board members and consultant the Frank Cosca Group had narrowed down a list of candidates this summer to one, Ontario-Montclair School District Deputy Supt. James Kidwell. But they couldn’t come to an agreement in final negotiations in August.

Board members repeatedly asked Rasmussen to lead the district, and he finally came around to the idea, Pellman said. She said their approval after he expressed interest was immediate.

“We were all thrilled,” she said. “We all thought, ‘OK, we don’t need to look any more.’ We already know how he’s going to work out; it’s great.”

One job Rasmussen will have to quit is his gig running educational consulting firm Education Support Services, based out of Yucaipa. He said he doesn’t want any kind of conflict of interest to taint his work with the district.

“That’s what I’m really careful of,” he said. “There can’t be any impropriety and conflict of interest. I’ll basically step out of any type of ongoing management of the firm, nor would I have any involvement or recommendation of that firm coming into this district.”