OXNARD : Schools Chief’s Successor Picked

Trustees of the Oxnard Elementary School District have chosen a district administrator to succeed Supt. Norman Brekke when he retires next year, despite objections from two Latino board members who wanted the selection open to competition.

Bernard Korenstein, 50, an assistant superintendent for educational services in the Oxnard district, will replace Brekke in June, 1994.

Trustees voted 3 to 2 to accept Brekke’s recommendation of Korenstein last week, with trustees Mary Barreto and Susan Alvarez objecting.

Without an open selection, Barreto said Monday, qualified applicants who are Latino have no chance to oversee a district in which more than 70% of the students are Latino.

“The superintendent at the administrative level should reflect the constituency being served, and there’s not a single Latino” in the highest district positions, Barreto said.

Brekke, 58, defended the selection process, saying Korenstein’s selection was backed by a previous board of trustees when Brekke received a four-year extension to his contract.

“The board made it very clear to me and Bernie that if his excellence continued and he found it possible to relocate from Thousand Oaks to Oxnard, that he would be my likely replacement,” Brekke said. He added that although no contract was signed, an understanding existed that Korenstein would be named the next superintendent.

But Barreto rejected that explanation, saying that three new trustees have been elected since that board’s decision.