For the second summer in a row, a new superintendent will take the reins of Natomas Unified School District while promising to steer the embattled district out of the red.

Natomas Unified trustees hired Walt L. Hanline as interim superintendent on a two-month guaranteed contract based on the daily rate of the district's outgoing superintendent.

Hanline will make $694 a day, or $152,800 if he works the entire 2011-12 school year, said school board President Bruce Roberts.

Hanline takes charge as Natomas tries to avoid a state takeover.

The Sacramento County Office of Education has been in control of Natomas Unified's finances since September 2009, because the district could not balance three years of consecutive budgets.

"His (Hanline's) reputation is he is a hard worker, a driven worker, a straight shooter, a solid superintendent with good financial abilities," Roberts said. "Many people said he is a good fit for our district for what our needs are at this time."

Hanline, 60, ran three school districts ranging from 170 students to 12,000 at Kings River-Hardwick School District, Del Norte County Unified and Ceres Unified.

"I don't intend to be there a day longer than it takes to get the district ready for the next superintendent," Hanline said Monday in a phone interview from his home in Eugene, Ore. "I am guaranteed two months, and after that I can fire them or they can fire me. We will do this together or we won't do it. There are too many challenges here for the board not to be together."

While at Ceres, Hanline was named California superintendent of the year in 2007 by the Association of California School Administrators. He retired in 2010 with 32 1/2 years of service and a $150,264 annual public pension, California State Teachers' Retirement System data show.

Hanline is the executive director of his one-man consulting company, the National Center for Executive Leadership and School Board Development, which assists school districts in superintendent searches and holds workshops on board governance.

Hanline said he will continue his consulting work in his free time.

"I miss the challenge of the superintendency and the impact we can have on kids," Hanline said.

Hanline replaces Superintendent Bobbie Plough, who lasted less than a year at Natomas Unified before asking to be released from her contract. Plough announced last month that she will head the Santa Clara Unified School District.

Plough said she is leaving after this month because of the prospect of a state takeover, which would eliminate her job.

"That doesn't scare me," Hanline said. "It creates a level of alarm that says to the district that you need to take this seriously."

In January, the Natomas Teachers Association approved the equivalent of a 7.9 percent reduction in total compensation through a combination of reduced pay and staff layoffs for the 2011-12 school year.

The California School Employees Association Chapter No. 745, representing the district's classified employees, rejected a similar agreement in February. A state mediator was assigned to assist in negotiations, and the process has advanced to the fact-finding stage.

The fact-finding report and recommendations are expected to be issued June 27.

Hanline will attend that hearing and a school board meeting before officially starting July 1.

Hanline said he thinks Natomas needs an interim superintendent in order to turn the district around and attract a solid permanent candidate.

"Bobbie proved the point," he said. "The organization is not on solid ground fiscally. It scares anyone who felt a need for a long-term career. It's better for them to find someone who can come in, make the changes and help them make the foundation solid so that when they hire a superintendent, they aren't scared to come into the district."

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