A $40,000 raise is only one of several reasons that School District Supt. Dr. Myrna Rivera Cote is resigning from the Culver City School District, effective in 30 days, according to friends.
Her selection as Superintendent of the El Rancho Unified School District in Orange County not only will significantly improve the state of her coffers, but save her the long, tiring, boring 50-mile drive every morning from her Huntington Beach home to the Westside.
And then there was the jackpot reason.
Insiders, who were not nearly as surprised as workaday members of the school community, said that Dr. Cote undoubtedly began to search for the new final posting of her distinguished Southern California career after last November’s election delivered three new members to the School Board, Karlo Silbiger, Patricia Siever and Kathy Paspalis.
It was no secret that Dr. Cote found the new mix of personalities difficult to work with.
Finally, what is next for Culver City?
Patricia Jaffee, an Assistant Superintendent who recently announced her retirement, sources say, would be a plum of a choice as Interim Superintendent — if she can be convinced to reverse her earlier decision. She knows the District better than anyone in the building, has a 30-year history and is well-liked.
