School principal resigns

Pioneer High School is losing its principal, Alex Flores.

Flores, 39, is leaving at the end of this month to take a new job -- a promotion -- as senior director of personnel at the Compton Unified School District.

The school board accepted his letter of resignation during a special meeting last night

Flores has been at Pioneer for three years. He says his new job should provide more consistent work hours, which will give him more time to spend at home with his young son and daughter.

He'll be replaced for the rest of the school year on an interim basis by Nicki Buchholz -- an assistant principal at Whittier High School -- while the district searches for a permanent replacement for Flores.

Buchholz is scheduled to start at Pioneer on March 2.