Published in the June 10-23, 2015 issue of Morgan Hill Life
Early June is a happy time for many Morgan Hill families as graduating seniors donned in cap and gown walk to the march of “Pomp and Circumstance” to receive from school board members their high school diplomas and move on to the next stages in their lives. This graduation ritual is one of the annual highlights for each member of the Morgan Hill Unified School District Board of Trustees. As the graduation speeches were made last week, we hope each trustee reflected that during the past several years, the MHUSD has significantly improved in the quality of the gift of education it gives, at taxpayer expense, to about 9,000 young people from kindergarten to 12th grade.
Several years ago, we recall things were a bit different in the district. With Superintendent Alan Nishino in charge, morale among teachers and parents fell to an extreme low. Nishino’s overly aggressive personality set up a wall of contention throughout the school district, discouraging community engagement.
When Nishino retired in 2009, Superintendent Wes Smith brought a positive and gregarious personality style of leadership and encouraged more community involvement. Smith played a pivotal role in the passage of the Measure G bond initiative in November 2012, providing $198 million in funds for campus infrastructure and information technology enhancements. After Smith’s three years at the helm, Steve Betando became MHUSD’s superintendent. Under his leadership in moving the district to Common Core standards, four district schools – Martin Murphy and Britton middle schools and Sobrato and Live Oak high schools – each recently received the California Gold Ribbon Award. This prestigious honor puts a spotlight on the high quality of education in our district and the participation among residents in supporting our public schools. It indicates MHUSD is going in the right direction.
Unfortunately, the district’s bright future is threatened by a serious problem school board trustees need to address immediately. Since January, the public has seen a growing animosity among the trustees toward each other and toward Superintendent Betando. The board’s two factions show increasing contention toward each other.
The fact that there is a serious problem with the school board was dramatically highlighted at the May 26 school board meeting’s closed session when, due to a sense of hostility felt by certain board members, a Morgan Hill Police Department officer had to be called to the district office to guard against possible conflict. A uniformed officer was present during the public session of the meeting to safeguard against the possibility of violence.
The role of the school board is to govern in a manner that makes sure every young person in the district has the opportunity to receive a high quality education from kindergarten to 12th grade. Egos and personality conflicts are always part of the democratic process, but smart elected officials are wise enough to know when to put their less noble human traits aside and focus on doing what voters expect them to do – lead in a civil and judicious manner. We don’t want to lose good administrators or lose out on the possibility of excellent candidates for open administrative posts because of a hostile work environment in the district created by trustees.
If not stopped, the dysfunction of the current board will have a negative impact not just on standards of education in our schools but also on the quality of life in Morgan Hill in general. Home real estate values are tied to the quality of public education in a community. Juvenile crime rates are also connected to how well students perform academically.
Morgan Hill’s schools have made impressive gains since 2009. It would be a foolish shame to sabotage for petty reasons what has been built under the guidance of Smith and Betando. We encourage the members of the school board to address their crisis of leadership and take steps before the new school year begins in August to end the animosity.
