DAN FLYNN BONING UP FOR FINAL; SIMI SCHOOL BOARD TO INTERVIEW SUPERINTENDENT CANDIDATE TUESDAY.

Byline: Douglas Clark Daily News Staff Writer

When he heard in June that the Simi Valley school district was looking for a new superintendent, Dan Flynn knew he wanted the job.

The Thousand Oaks resident talked it over with his wife, Gail, and their six children, then began questioning people in the Simi Valley school system and business community.

``The first thing I asked was, `Why can't this board get along?' I got a wide range of answers. And I've been warned that I don't know what I'm getting into.

``But I would like the opportunity to quell egos and help the board focus on what we're here for - the kids,'' he said in a phone interview Thursday.

Flynn is scheduled to be interviewed Tuesday by the school board, which voted 3-2 this week to talk to him although members haven't yet defined criteria for selecting a new district chief.

The majority of the board members say Flynn, who runs the Head Start program for the Los Angeles County Office of Education, is a known commodity. And if he is hired Tuesday, the district could save the time and expense of hiring an executive-search firm.

But dissenting trustees want to be careful in finding a permanent replacement for Superintendent Tate Parker, who resigned in June after only six months on the job. Albert ``Bud'' Marley, the former head of the Las Virgenes Unified School District, is serving as Simi Valley's interim superintendent.

Making contacts in Simi Valley was easy, Flynn said, because many people have ties between Simi Valley and Thousand Oaks, where Flynn is active in the Rotary, St. Jude's Catholic Church, and in the youth athletic association.

Although he heard a wide range of opinions, Flynn said critics of the school board made two main points.

``They said people on the board have egos, they think they know it all,'' Flynn said. ``And there are trustees who are on opposite ends of the political spectrum.''

Despite the board's recent public quarrels, Flynn, 45, said he is eager to become the superintendent and would move his family to Simi Valley.

``Someone needs to be able to work with the board and bring them into some kind of harmony,'' he said. ``I'm not someone who's going to come in saying I have all the answers. I'm someone who is going to get with the board, pull in the parents and business community, and set our goals - together.''

Flynn, who received his doctorate in education from the University of Southern California in 1996, has never been a school superintendent.

But he worked in the Los Angeles school system from 1981 to 1991, first as a teacher, then program coordinator and, eventually, as an assistant principal.

In 1991, Flynn became principal of the Ventura County juvenile court schools. In 1994, he ran against his boss, Charles Weis, for county schools superintendent and lost. When Weis fired him following the election, claiming poor job performance, Flynn filed a $3 million wrongful termination suit, which was settled out of court for $120,000 in 1996.

And though Flynn lost the county election, 49,460 votes to 46,214, he won the race in Simi Valley - 6,762 to 5,529, records show.

``Those people who took part in the system already chose me. They asked for Dan Flynn to be their county superintendent,'' Flynn said.

Robert Larkin, who owns a Simi Valley insurance company, said he introduced Flynn this week to members of the Rotary of Simi Valley. Larkin said believes the business community would welcome someone like Flynn, who he described as ``gregarious and fun to be around.''

``The business community is, overall, a little disappointed in the school operation in the last few years. That's tax money you're burning when you have to pay off a superintendent,'' he said, alluding to the $80,000-plus settlement with Parker. ``I have a lot of respect for him (Flynn.) If they choose him, I hope he'll stay around a long time so we can focus again on the kids.''

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