ANTELOPE VALLEY : Board Picks Schools Chief for Interim

Trustees of the financially troubled Antelope Valley Union High School District have chosen a former San Diego County superintendent and chief executive officer of a savings and loan to serve as an interim superintendent.

After a special meeting on Tuesday, trustees announced that Douglas Giles, 60, of Chula Vista was their pick from six candidates recommended by the Los Angeles County Office of Education.

Giles has nearly 40 years experience as a teacher, principal and superintendent. He served as superintendent of the Santee School District in San Diego County from 1977 to August, 1991, and as board chairman for Silvergate Bancorp in La Mesa since 1986.

School board President Sophia Waugh said Wednesday that Giles will begin work on Friday to help the board with interviews for an assistant superintendent of business, a position that has been vacant since February. “He’ll bring us back to stability. That’s what we need, stability and trust,� Waugh said.

Last month, the board speeded up the departure of Supt. Kenneth Brummel by paying him $100,000 to void the final 2 1/2 years of his contract. This year the district became the first in the state to have a monitor appointed by the Los Angeles County Office of Education to oversee its spending, after a $12.4-million deficit was uncovered.