TEMECULA -- School board President Barbara Tooker said she will not seek re-election this year, saying she will step down after 17 years on the board to devote more time to her family and business.

Tooker's announcement came Wednesday, as district officials detailed changes to the administrative ranks, including the promotion of Assistant Superintendent for Educational Support Services Tim Ritter to deputy superintendent with the understanding that his new post will make him a likely candidate eventually to replace Superintendent Carol Leighty.

Leighty said the administrative changes stem largely from an expected drop in state revenue for the budget year beginning July 1.

Some positions will be eliminated or left vacant. Leighty said at least three employees will receive promotions as they take on new responsibilities, including Ritter.

Tooker said the trustees want to prepare Ritter as a possible replacement for Leighty when she retires. Leighty, 60, said she has no plans to leave soon, but Tooker said identifying Ritter as a potential future superintendent would provide stability for the district.

Ritter said he welcomed "the opportunity to become a superintendent someday down the road," saying the best option for him because of his ties to the district "would be to become superintendent here."

As for Tooker, she said she wants to spend more time with her family when her term expires in December.

"It's the perfect opportunity for me to schedule time with my grandchildren," Tooker said.

New duties

Last year, when Assistant Superintendent of Educational Services Dick Glock retired, the district split his job into two assistant superintendent positions, moving Ritter from Great Oak High School for one job and promoting Ann Huntington to take the post of assistant superintendent for student support services.

Now, Huntington is leaving the district for a job in the Newport Mesa Unified School District. Her departure, and that of Gary Wilson, the director of categorical, summer school and library programs, is leading the district to eliminate those positions.

Their duties will be divided among other administrators, primarily Ritter; Mike Runyen, director of child welfare and attendance, who will be promoted to the new position of executive director of student support services; and Juanita Hernandez, the principal of Rancho Santa Rosa and Rancho Vista high schools, who will become coordinator of English-language learners and the Title I program for schools serving low-income students.

Aside from Huntington's and Wilson's positions, Leighty said other administrative positions will be eliminated through layoffs or by not filling vacancies, including nine assistant principal posts and the position of director of human resources. That should save the district some money, though Leighty said it won't be a "huge" amount.

Leighty said Ritter and Runyen probably will receive raises of about 5 percent to reflect their new responsibilities. Trustees are expected to vote on the changes next month.

Leighty said she still thinks the district needs the assistant superintendent and other eliminated positions.

"If we didn't have this budget problem, we wouldn't be doing this," she said.

But she said reducing the administrative ranks will increase the chance that district officials can rescind some of the layoff notices issued to 47 teachers and certificated employees. By not filling Huntington's post, district officials said they will save at least one certificated position.

Many teachers, especially those who have received layoff notices, are skeptical of Leighty's statements that her primary concern is to reduce the number of teachers who lose their jobs, said Brian Wixom, interim president of the Temecula Valley Educators Association.

"Not all of our teachers really feel that's the priority, and not all of our teachers really have been shown that's the priority," he said.

Principals reassigned

Leighty said the administrative reorganization also influenced a recent decision to reassign four elementary school principals to different campuses for the upcoming school year.

Leighty said veteran principals Shery Stewart of Ysabel Barnett Elementary and Melanie Aamodt of French Valley Elementary will be given extra responsibilities now handled by the district office.

Leighty said those duties made it necessary to transfer Stewart and Aamodt to smaller schools -- Helen Hunt Jackson and Red Hawk elementaries, respectively. Red Hawk's Chris Dixon will head Barnett in the fall and Jackson's Joe Mueller will take over at French Valley.

Leighty said she has heard from parents at all four schools who are unhappy about the transfers.

Many from Jackson and Red Hawk are especially worried that the changes are a sign that their schools will be closed for fall 2009. Trustees decided against shuttering an elementary campus in the upcoming school year, but said they would consider closing Jackson, Red Hawk or Joan F. Sparkman in 2009-10.

"I feel we've been duped by the district in that they're going to close it eventually," said Clare Andrews, the mother of a fourth-grader at Red Hawk. "I feel they're positioning principals for that purpose."

Leighty said the principal changes have "nothing to do" with the potential closures and emphasized that trustees have not yet decided whether to close a school.

Parents say they still are upset over the loss of their principals. Melisa Scherer, president of Red Hawk's parent-teacher association, said Dixon is a wonderful principal whose upcoming departure has devastated parents and staff members.

"The fact that the man knows every single child's name is just unbelievable," Scherer said. "No one's looking forward Friday to saying goodbye."

Contact staff writer Rani Gupta at (951) 676-4315, Ext. 2625, or rgupta@californian.com.