VENTURA : Ex-Schools Leader Defends His Tenure

In a statement issued Friday, former Ventura schools superintendent Cesare Caldarelli defended his rocky tenure as head of the system and took a parting shot at members of the school board.

“I did the best I could and am proud of what we were able to accomplish . . . during my time in Ventura,” said Caldarelli in the three-page, single-spaced letter distributed to several newspapers in Ventura County.

It was the first statement Caldarelli has released since he quietly--and hastily--left Ventura early last month to accept a position as superintendent of a school district in suburban Chicago.

In the letter, Caldarelli said he met several goals, including obtaining a teachers’ contract that is favorable to the district and drawing new school attendance boundaries.

He thanked several people, from district-level staff to Ventura City Manager John Baker, for helping him as chief executive of the Ventura Unified School District. And he attempted to explain why his departure “may have appeared to be somewhat sudden.”

After a new majority on the board did not extend his contract early this year, he began looking for other employment, Caldarelli said. He received an offer to become schools superintendent of Bensenville, Ill., in July and informed the board, Caldarelli said.

Although Board President Terence Kilbride has publicly stated that Caldarelli didn’t notify the board of his official resignation until he was on the road to Illinois, Caldarelli insisted in the letter there were no surprises.

Near the end of the letter, Caldarelli questioned the motives of the board majority--Trustees John Walker, Diane Harriman and Jim Wells--who voted not to extend his contract.

“I think it’s just best to let him go and leave any further antagonism alone,” Walker said. “If this is what it takes for him to feel good about himself, I’ll let him have it.”