Thomas to Get CIF Section Post Today

Stan Thomas, an administrator in charge of commerce and technology for the Tustin Unified School District and a former high school football coach and principal in Southern California, is expected to be introduced today as the new commissioner of the Southern Section of the Californian Interscholastic Federation.

Thomas and several members of the section’s Executive Committee would not comment Wednesday, but sources close to the situation indicated that Thomas won out over Dean Crowley, a Southern Section administrator, and Margaret Davis, associate commissioner of the CIF.

The finalists each were interviewed for about 35 minutes Tuesday, ending a process that started in early April.

“Everyone was sworn to secrecy on this matter,” Thomas said.

Thomas coached football at now-defunct Neff High School in La Mirada and was principal at East Tustin Foothill, a job he left in 1984 for his Tustin position. He will replace Ray Plutko as the sixth commissioner of the largest of the 10 sections in the CIF.

Plutko announced his resignation in February to become chief of the Colorado High School Activities Assn., although no date for his departure has been announced.