FLYNN READY TO TACKLE TRANSITION.

Byline: Michael Coit Daily News Staff Writer

Dan Flynn was already getting familiar with his new job as Simi Valley schools superintendent Wednesday, attending a morning management meeting and taking notes from interim Superintendent Albert Marley.

Planning to resign Friday as coordinator of Los Angeles County's Head Start program, Flynn would like to formally start his new job Monday, although Marley said Nov. 3 probably will be the start date.

Either way, Flynn said he has ``a lot of homework'' ahead on such issues as changing attendance boundaries, improving board relations and working on next year's budget. He also must gain the trust of teachers and staff who opposed the school board's swift selection process, with Flynn the only candidate considered before the board's 3-2 vote late Tuesday.

``There's only one way to do that and it's certainly not talk. I'm not having a coffee and inviting teachers and giving them my mission statement,'' said Flynn, 45. ``I will let my actions speak for themselves, as the issues come up and they see how I respond and how I resolve issues.''

Ginny Jannotto, president of the Simi Educators Association, said the process of selecting Flynn leaves him ``behind the eight ball.'' There is concern that Flynn's lack of experience as a top-level administrator will leave him wanting as chief of Ventura County's largest school district.

``I don't know how anybody comes into his job under these circumstances and comes out building relationships,'' said Jannotto, a Sinaloa Middle School computer and math teacher who has been with the district 19 years.

``Of course, the board says over and over that they're hiring him for all his people skills,'' she said. ``I'm hoping that since he's now been hired that he can do the job. We simply won't know.''

To help smooth the transition, Flynn's initial goal in taking over the embattled superintendent's post - there have been seven since 1990 - is to visit each of the 27 elementary, junior high and high school campuses. He figures that will take two months.

``I plan on going to every school, every classroom to meet face to face with every teacher, every custodian. That's my goal,'' Flynn said. ``I'm told that it's an impossible task because we have too many employees. But I have to shoot for everyone of them.''

Marley, a retired school administrator who stepped in when Tate Parker resigned after less than seven months as superintendent, will play an important role in preparing Flynn for the new post.

While Marley, the 66-year-old former Las Virgenes Unified School District chief, advised the board to make a broader search, he looks forward to working with Flynn, a former Ventura County Office of Education deputy superintendent. Flynn also worked in the Los Angeles Unified School District as a teacher, coordinator and assistant principal between 1981 and 1991.

``I told the board before I came over, No. 1, I won't leave them and let them dangle,'' said Marley, who has been paid $519 a day since taking over in early July. ``It should be business as usual, and I think it will be.''

Wednesday's meeting with the the district office managers and campus principals is an example of what the Simi Valley school's chief faces daily. Today, Marley meets with the high school principals and the district's teacher advisory panel. There is a board budget study session Friday.

Tougher tasks resume next week.

On Monday, the district's principals meet again on the issue of changing district boundaries in anticipation of housing trends and factoring in vacant campuses. Marley set a December goal to present recommendations to the board.

On Oct. 24, the board holds the first of several meetings with a consultant to evaluate how they work together and with the superintendent.

Flynn would not discuss his views on such issues.

``Off the top of my head, I'm not going to comment on things I'm not knowledgeable about,'' he said. ``I need an in-depth briefing on all these key issues. I will learn a lot in the week or two that (Marley) is there with me.''

Al Jacobs, a former Simi Valley assistant superintendent who has remained in contact with current and former district educators, fears that Flynn's lack of experience as a superintendent and the divisive selection process will be a dangerous combination.

``What I'm afraid of is they're going to get a weak manager and have three members on the board who run the district,'' said Jacobs.