ESCONDIDO -- More than two dozen retirements and several million dollars in budget cuts made throughout the spring for next year have resulted in the shuffling of administrators between nine Escondido elementary schools, district officials said.

Beginning Tuesday, the Escondido Union School District will have four new principals, three veteran principals heading up new schools and one former school administrator developing and expanding the student intervention programs at the district office, Assistant Superintendent of Human Resource Bob Leon said.

Also, Fabiola Elias, who was working with students who are learning English and developing ways to infuse technology into the curriculum at Glen View Elementary, will take over as an assistant principal at Mission Middle School, Leon said.

"Due to some very fine people retiring we had a lot of openings," trustee Linda Woods said. "I am thrilled that we had a lot of people that we were able to promote from within our district, though."

All of the vacant principal and assistant principal posts were filled with district employees.

Several of the new principals served last year as assistant principals, who otherwise would have been reassigned as teachers due to the elimination of their positions because of budget cuts, district officials said.

Trustees decided in April to remove one of the two or three assistant principals from each of the district's five middle school campuses as a way to reduce spending for the upcoming 2008-09 fiscal year, which begins July 1.

The middle school assistant principal plan places two assistant principals at Escondido Union's largest schools -- Rincon and Mission -- and 1.5 assistant principal positions at Del Dios, Bear Valley and Hidden Valley middle schools, as well as the largest elementary school, Oak Hill.

The new line-up of administrators is as follows:

- Leticia Ortegon, a former assistant principal at Hidden Valley, is the principal at Glen View Elementary.

- Beth Crooks, a former assistant principal at Rincon Middle School, will be the principal at Reidy Creek Elementary.

- Kelly Mussatti, a former assistant principal at Mission Middle School, will be the principal at Juniper Elementary.

- Steve White, a former assistant principal at Bear Valley middle School, will be the principal at Conway Elementary.

- Lisa Clark, the former principal at Conway Elementary, is moving to the principal post at Bernardo Elementary.

- Mark Garner, the former principal at Juniper Elementary, is moving to the principal post at Bear Valley Middle School.

- Jim Scoot, the former principal at Glen View Elementary, is moving to the principal post at Miller Elementary.

- Leila Sackfield, the former principal at Reidy Creek Elementary, will be a principal on special assignment at the district.

Contact staff writer Shayna Chabner at (760) 740-5416 or schabner@nctimes.com.