After four years leading Morgan Hill Unified School District,
Superintendent Alan Nishino will retire at the end of June.
After four years leading Morgan Hill Unified School District, Superintendent Alan Nishino will retire at the end of June.
But, he’ll be rehired at a reduced rate as interim superintendent through August, or until the Board of Education finds a new superintendent, whichever comes sooner. They will begin the search process immediately.
Nishino said he has mixed feelings about his retirement.
“There are still things to be done,” said Nishino, who turned 63 Wednesday.
Nishino listed aligning curriculum to state standards, construction projects at the schools and boosting expectations as highlights of his four-year stint in Morgan Hill.
“We’ve done some really good things for our students,” he said. “We set expectations for all our students to have the opportunity to be as successful as they can be.”
Board President Don Moody applauded Nishino for streamlining curriculum.
“I feel much more confident now that a student at Paradise Valley is getting the same education as a Jackson student or a Barrett student,” he said. “Alan took that very seriously. He embraced that challenge and we have made great strides in that area.”
Most district students have graduated with the coursework required to attend a state university and all eighth graders are required to take Algebra I, a new requirement. In 2007, 70 percent of graduates left high schools with the coursework required for University of California or California State University entrance In 2004, just 37 percent of graduates met these requirements.
Board Vice President Bart Fisher said he hopes the board can find a superintendent that can build on that foundation.
Nishino has been praised for his strong fiscal mind. He and Deputy Superintendent Bonnie Tognazzini have guided the board in making difficult cuts that have so far reduced the general fund by $9 million, or 12 percent.
“Between he and Bonnie, they deserve a lot of credit. We’re in much better shape than some of our neighboring districts,” Moody said. “They had the financial foresight to plan and move quickly.”
Nishino hesitated to say what, if anything, he would have done differently these past four years.
“I don’t think anybody can question my focus on the students,” he said. “Would I change my vision and my goals and my priority, students? I will never change that. I always asked, ‘What can we do for the students of the community?'”
Britton Middle School Home & School Club President Lydie Jones said Nishino is ahead of his time.
“I think our community may have gotten the wrong impression of him. But being with him, I see his vision and I totally understand it. And his vision is including everyone,” she said.
Latino student advocate Julian Mancias agreed.
“I’m sad to see him leave,” he said. “Since he’s been here, he’s really promoted the Latino education more so than any other superintendent I’ve seen come through.”
Mancias said he hopes the new superintendent continues Nishino’s progress with minority students.
But the superintendent did have his detractors.
The controversial leader has been widely criticized by parents and teachers and is leaving with a fractured relationship with the district’s two labor unions.
The Morgan Hill Federation of Teachers Union contract was ratified May 26, almost a year into its three-year contract. District and union officials will attend a Public Employees Relation Board hearing next week to discuss direct dealing with teachers and curriculum collaboration. Nishino has been heavily criticized by teachers for what they say is a top-down management approach.
One of the more controversial aspects of Nishino’s time in Morgan Hill was his contract. The goals set forth by the board have been kept under wraps, and he’s never turned down the 3-percent raise he automatically gets with a satisfactory or better performance review. Even amid budget cuts, Nishino accepted the raise.
Nishino was hired by the board in July 2005, at a base salary of $185,000. He now makes $206,000.
Nishino said his critics were mostly responding to the changes he was making at the behest of the board.
“Whenever you make change, it’s difficult. There are going to be some challenges involved in that,” Nishino said. “History will show the things we did.”
Trustees were optimistic that they would find someone soon, and weren’t enthused with the idea of hiring an interim superintendent.
“We really want to see what’s out there right away. Wouldn’t it be wonderful to find someone and get them on board?” Moody said.
That said, the board will not settle for someone just because Nishino’s time in Morgan Hill is running out, Moody said.
Fisher said he’d heard the interim idea being brought up in the community.
“My concern with that is, we don’t have any interim challenges to face in this district,” he said. “It would be very helpful to have someone that was here for the foreseeable future. But, we shouldn’t settle for good enough, we should be flexible and be willing to bring someone on an interim basis (if need be).”
SEIU President Pam Torrisi said the district needed to take its time and vet the candidates who do come forward.
“The option of hiring an interim person is not a bad one,” she said. “It would give us time to really search out a good candidate. I also believe when they narrow down the field they need to include teachers and classified in the visitations to the districts of the persons they are thinking of hiring.”
Moody said keeping Nishino on is for the sole purpose of him to take care of the business of running the school district.
“He will have absolutely no input into the selection of his replacement,” Moody said.
Trustee Shelle Thomas said change is good.
“We can learn from the last four years, and look at his accomplishments and see where can better serve our students and employees and the community,” she said.
Nishino worked in public education for 39 years, starting with 13 years as a physical education teacher and ending with 14 years serving as superintendent at three different school districts.
Nishino will live in Southern California with his wife Akiko. They have two adult children, a daughter and a son.
Nishino said he’ll miss working with students.
“Being able to converse, joke, talk serious stuff, mentor them about what it takes to be something,” he said. “I’ll miss that probably more than anything.”
