Trustee Seeks Input on Board’s Interview

Simi Valley school board member Carla Kurachi said she will be available Saturday for people to express their opinions on the board’s recent decision to interview Dan Flynn as a district superintendent candidate.

Kurachi will be outside the Target store at 2907 Cochran St. from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. to take comments on the board’s decision, which faculty members have protested.

“Whenever there’s a controversial issue, I set up my TV tray, make a sign and let people come talk to me about it,” Kurachi said. “Some people don’t want to speak in front of a group or call a board member. It’s an informal way to express a view verbally or just sign a piece of paper and give it to me.”

With Kurachi dissenting, the school board voted 3 to 2 Tuesday to interview Flynn and conduct background checks on him starting this week. Flynn, a Thousand Oaks father of six and the current Head Start coordinator in Los Angeles County, has applied to be the schools chief for the Simi Valley Unified School District.

Protesters who came to Tuesday night’s meeting said interviewing Flynn before the board has a chance to hire an independent search company is unfair and is a method to block out community input.

President Norm Walker has said there is no one right way to go about hiring a superintendent and the board has the power to make decisions on who gets interviewed and when.

Members of the public also will be able to express themselves before a closed board meeting tonightat 5 p.m. at the district office at 875 E. Cochran St. After the public forum, the board will begin to interview representatives from four search companies, one of which could be selected to conduct a nationwide search for a superintendent to lead the 19,400-student district.