School Administrators

Plans to quickly appoint an interim superintendent for the beleaguered Laguna Beach Unified School District have hit a snag because no one in the current administration seems to want the top job. School board members had hoped to begin interviewing candidates from their rapidly shrinking administrative staff late last week, but received no applications, even through they welcomed district officials to show interest. "No one wanted to interview," school board President Jan Vickers said Monday.

During its closed-door meeting before its public session, the board of the Los Angeles Unified School District agreed to appoint a search committee by Sept. 9 to help solicit candidates and identify finalists for the district's top job. A citizens committee had recommended such a screening process for the position that will come open next June, when Supt. Sid Thompson steps down. The board intends to begin interviewing finalists in January.

Longtime elementary school principal Eileen Moore has announced her retirement from the city's school district. Moore told school board members that she is leaving to pursue other personal goals. Moore started at the district in 1970 as a teacher, and has worked as an assistant principal and principal at five of the district's elementary schools.

Bill Langan, principal of Jordan Elementary School and Jordan Secondary Learning Center, has been appointed director of special education and student services for the Garden Grove Unified School District. In his new position, Langan will oversee programs for the district's 4,200 special education students and direct health and child welfare services. He also will manage the district's discipline committee.

The Glendale school board has selected James R. Brown as superintendent of schools to succeed retiring Supt. Robert Sanchis, officials said Wednesday. Brown, head of the 8,800-student Palo Alto Unified School District, was the unanimous selection, said board President Jeanne Bentley. Reached by telephone at his Palo Alto office, Brown said a bond issue for new school construction and repair will be a priority for Glendale schools.

The Glendale school board has selected James R. Brown as superintendent of schools to succeed retiring Supt. Robert Sanchis, officials said Wednesday. Brown, head of the 8,800-student Palo Alto Unified School District, was the unanimous selection, said board President Jeanne Bentley. Reached by telephone at his Palo Alto office, Brown said a bond issue for school construction and repair will be a priority for Glendale schools.

Marge Hoctor of the Garden Grove Unified School District has been chosen as president-elect of the California Assn. for the Gifted. Hoctor, the school district's coordinator for K-12 programs, will serve as the association's vice president until July 1997, when she will assume the duties of president. Hoctor, who joined the district in 1970, has worked extensively with gifted children. She taught in the Gifted and Talented Education Program for two years.

Bonnie Swann, principal of Mariners Elementary School in Newport Beach, has been appointed to lead special education programs for the Newport-Mesa Unified School District. Swann, who has been an administrator at Mariners for seven years, will step into her new position at a difficult time. While school districts face new state and federal requirements to offer certain programs, state and federal grants have declined.

Kenneth D. Yglesias was chosen this week as the sixth president of Golden West College after having served as interim president of the 14,000-student college since January. Nancy A. Pollard, a Coast Community College District board member, said Yglesias "has the experience and knowledge to lead Golden West into the 21st century." Yglesias, 50, succeeds Philip Westin, who resigned to become chancellor of the Ventura Community College District.

The Los Angeles Unified School District board on Monday named a citizens committee to aid in its search for a new superintendent and to help the district rise above the kind of ethnic politics that have marked the search thus far. The 14-member committee will not be involved in the actual selection but will help the board refine its criteria and decide whether to conduct a national or local search.