Wes Smith, Superintendent of the Morgan Hill Unified School District for 3.5 years, announced to the community Tuesday via email that he has accepted an offer to serve as the Executive Director of the Association of California School Administrators effective July 1.
The MHUSD Board of Education will be working on a transition plan in the next couple of weeks that will “protect the district’s success and momentum,” Smith states.
School Board trustees will discuss the selection process of a new superintendent – it’s eighth since the district formed in 1966 – during their next regular meeting April 30.
“While the opportunity to lead a statewide organization and advocate on behalf of over six million public education students is an extremely unique professional opportunity, the past 3.5 years in the Morgan Hill Unified School District have been the most fulfilling of my career,” wrote Smith. “Since day one you have trusted me, supported me and accepted me and my family into your community. I will leave our community inspired by your commitment to supporting our youth.”
Board of Ed. President Don Moody said Smith was hired for his new position Saturday morning in Sacramento. Smith drove back to Morgan Hill that day and then proceeded to meet individually with almost every school board member over the weekend before flying out to Washington D.C., where he is “advocating for California students” this week with a team from ACSA, according to Smith’s Executive Secretary Julie Zintsmaster.
Moody said Smith was “not actively looking” to leave MHUSD. Rather, the superintendent was pursued by ACSA, which had recently named Smith its Superintendent of the Year for 2013.
According to the ACSA website, “the mission of ACSA is to support California’s educational leaders; ensure all students have the essential skills and knowledge to excel; and champion public education.”
“He is a great superintendent,” said Moody, one of two board members along with Vice President Shelle Thomas involved with hiring Smith to replace former superintendent Alan Nishino in November of 2009.
“I knew that this wasn’t going to be his last position. I hate to see him go,” Moody continued. “We have made so much progress in the time that he’s been in the district. But an opportunity like this doesn’t come across very often for him.”
Besides the success of Measure G – a $198 million voter-approved capital improvements bond passed in November 2012 – the district’s Academic Performance Index (California’s yardstick for measuring academic growth and success) has increased 25 points and the Latino subgroup saw a 50-point climb since Smith’s hiring in 2006. Another accolade the district put out in their “Celebrating Our Successes 2012-13” press release was MHUSD having the county’s third highest percentage of Latino students meeting A-G Graduation requirements needed to qualify for acceptance into UC or CSU university.
In his email, Smith highlights several past and ongoing initiatives he is proud of during his tenure in Morgan Hill. This includes the improvement of district-wide outcomes, finding innovative budget solutions that “saved us from having to suffer layoffs and furlough days like surrounding districts,” passing Measure G and repairing “relations between the community and the school district.”
Smith says he is leaving the district in the “great hands” of experienced site and district leaders who are committed to working with all stakeholders to meet and exceed district goals.
Board trustee Claudia Rossi said she knew Smith’s talents and effectiveness at MHUSD would catch the attention of other school districts and organizations.
She believes that Smith can now impact more students as the executive director of the largest umbrella organization for school leaders in the nation, serving more than 16,000 school leaders since 1971.
“When you have top notch talent, you know that talent is going to be recruited,” Rossi explained. “I don’t think it was a surprise to any of us. It is a disappointment, absolutely. We hate to lose him.”
When Smith was first hired, trustee Bob Benevento recalls a a former MHUSD trustee – who was part of the selection committee tasked with choosing a new superintendent – noted that “the district would be lucky to have (Smith’s) services.”
It’s as if that trustee was “prescient,” chuckled Benevento, who says Morgan Hill was fortunate the day Smith was hired.
“I admire his humor, intellect, emotion and passion for education and am honored to have had the opportunity to know and work with him,” Benevento continued.
Since learning over the weekend of Smith’s forthcoming departure, the board has yet to discuss in-depth the next steps.
MHUSD replaced former superintendent Jim Crow with Carolyn McKennan in 1996. Both served nine-year terms. McKennan’s successor Alan Nishino served for four years from 2005 to 2009 before Smith took over the superintendent duties for MHUSD. Before retiring, Nishino was criticized as a divisive, unapproachable leader by parents and teachers.
In past hiring practices of superintendents, the Board of Ed. hired a search consulting firm that helped walk the trustees through the hiring process, beginning with identifying a pool of candidates. The Board can decide to employ an interim superintendent during the search. In past instances, trustees have held community forums to gain input – something Moody eluded to doing this time around as well – and have even appointed community members to be part of the interviewing of candidates. Trustees have the final say, however, and are the ones who vote to make the hiring official.
“We were lucky to have him for the time that we did,” said trustee Rick Badillo, of Smith. “The next superintendent will have some big shoes to fill.”
Smith, who previously worked as superintendent at Cascade Union Elementary School District in Anderson before coming to Morgan Hill, was an active ACSA member for the last 13 years, serving on local and regional boards.
“While it is popular right now to criticize public education, I want you to know that I believe in our schools, our educators, and the many community partnerships that ensure our success,” Smith continued. “We have very good schools and they are getting better every day. I urge you to continue defining and articulating a quality education that is comprehensive – not determined by a single metric. I am also very confident in our union leaders and school board members. Both share a vision of success for all students and are committed to working together to realize this vision.”
Along with being ACSA’s 2013 Superintendent of the year, Smith was the 2004 ACSA Region I Administrator of the Year and 2003 Shasta County School Administrators Association Middle School Principal of the Year.
“He has the professional skills and the leadership qualities required to grow the organization, advocate on behalf of public education, build the capacity of school leaders and develop a coalition to support for the success of our students,” said ACSA President David Gomez.
