DISTRICT NEARING DECISION SUPERINTENDENT LIST TRIMMED.

Byline: Naush Boghossian Staff Writer

GLENDALE - The Glendale Unified School District is whittling down the list of finalists to replace retiring Superintendent Jim Brown and could announce a replacement as early as next week, officials said Wednesday.

The school board will interview finalists during a special closed-door meeting Saturday. If the board agrees on one candidate, it will schedule a visit to the finalist's school district next week, officials said.

``If in fact the board agrees on who the new superintendent should be and they agree to the position, we could make an announcement after next Tuesday,'' said school district spokesman Vic Pallos.

But district officials remained extremely tight-lipped about the $25,000 search process, not revealing the number of applicants or finalists - all in an effort, they said, to protect the identities of those who applied. In many cases, the applicants have not informed their own districts that they were actively pursuing another job.

``It's important for the candidates we're interviewing for it to be confidential because they're all superintendents,'' said school board President Pam Ellis. ``It's very typical of the process that it be kept confidential so we get the best candidates. Some wouldn't apply if we went public with it.''

Ellis said the number of applicants the search generated was irrelevant, because the person chosen to head up the school district would be highly qualified. Once a new superintendent was selected, the board would reveal more details about the process, she said.

``For $25,000 you get people that are handpicked for you. You're not going through the masses,'' Ellis said. ``Now we're trying to maintain confidentiality and we really don't want to go any further than that.'' People from across the nation were able to apply for the job, but the board had expressed an interest in finding a superintendent from California who would be familiar with the state's budget and education laws.

Also, based on information culled during several meetings arranged by Leadership Associates - the consultants hired by the district to recruit candidates for the position - members of the public, city of Glendale and school district officials agreed they would like to see a superintendent who has integrity and skills in dealing with a diverse community, among other qualities, Ellis said.

``We feel very comfortable with the candidates that came forward and ... we feel we have in that pool someone we like and someone we'll be able to work with,'' Ellis said. ``I think we'll be able to come to a conclusion on Saturday.''

The board is following the same process it used to find Brown in 1996.

Leadership Associates found a group of qualified candidates and when the board focused on Brown, all the members flew to Palo Alto - where Brown served as superintendent - to visit with the local school board, unions and parents.

Brown, who announced in July that he would retire at the end of January, has spent 38 years as a teacher and administrator, with 25 of those years as a superintendent of schools in four different districts.

In Glendale, Brown heads one of California's largest districts, with 30 campuses, 30,000 students and more than 2,500 employees.

Naush Boghossian, [phone]

naush.boghossian(at)dailynews.com