Student achievement, fiscal responsibility, respect for district
employees and better communication on list
Morgan Hill – Better student performance, fiscal responsibility, employee consideration and communication are some of the new goals approved by Morgan Hill school trustees Tuesday.
The goals lay the foundation for the next school year, but some of the strategies and measurements unanimously approved by the Morgan Hill Unified School District Board of Education will extend beyond.
“These are really crucial and critical goals,” said Superintendent Alan Nishino. “This should drive what we do in schools so our kids become better at what they do. These are goals to make our students successful.”
The four goals and their strategies and measurements will be posted on the district’s Web site, www.mhu.k12.ca.us, and distributed to district staff so that each department and school site can use them to guide their efforts, Nishino added.
Trustee Shelle Thomas asked if, as in the past, trustees would use the goals to evaluate Nishino, who’s been on the job for a year.
“We’ve set up goals specifically with him to reach,” Board of Education President Mike Hickey said. “These goals … if we fail, it’s just as much on us as on the superintendent.”
Trustee Julia Hover-Smoot said the goals are “a working document to keep ourselves on track.”
Commenting on the goal concerning respect for employees, Morgan Hill Federation of Teachers President Donna Foster said there are ways to show employees are valued that need not be incorporated into a goal.
“One way of respecting employees is to honor and respect their contract,” she said.
Under the third goal to “value, respect and support our employees,” one strategy calls for the district to begin negotiation with unions about their contracts before the end of the summer. Unions and the district examine the contracts each year and negotiate on a regular basis.
Another describes the creation of a district task force composed of representatives from the three unions – Service Employees International Union, Morgan Hill Federation of Teachers and Morgan Hill Educational Leaders Association – “to investigate and create a plan for honoring and respecting employees.”
Foster said she would also like to see more teacher input into curriculum and staff development decision. But she said Assistant Superintendent Stan Rose’s efforts have been “positive first steps.”
Another union concern, said Foster, is a measurement under the student achievement goal which calls for all district schools to annually increase their similar school Academic Performance Index ranking, reaching a ranking of eight or higher by 2010.
A similar school ranking is supposed to show how a school’s academic performance compares to schools with similar demographics. Schools are ranked in a range of 1-10, with a ranking of 10 as the best.
The California Department of Education ranks the schools after the Academic Performance Index scores are released. The schools change from year to year, and Foster said the grouping of the schools does not always make sense. For example, she said, San Martin/Gwinn Elementary School, which has a larger number of economically disadvantaged and minority students, is grouped with the Charter School of Morgan Hill, which has no free or reduced lunch students and fewer minority students.
“Of course we want every school to improve, but that goal is beyond the control of everyone,” she said. “We have no control over who we’re compared to.”
A better measurement of student achievement, she said, would be consistent increases in API scores. State Superintendent Jack O’Connell and the California Federation of Teachers are advocating this form of measurement of improvement be used for the “No Child Left Behind” federal requirements.
Another goal with specific strategies and measurements concerns the district budget.
Under the fiscal responsibility goal, there is a requirement fo completion of the plans for Live Oak High School’s renovation in 2006-07 and completion of the renovation by the end of 2008.
Trustees also want to maintain in their general fund budget the 3 percent economic uncertainty reserve required by the state and maintain a 3 percent routine maintenance reserve.
Under the new student achievement goal, which calls for a “safe, orderly and supportive environment” for students, one of the strategies listed is creating safety plans for all district schools.
Assistant Superintendent Michael Johnson said the school site safety plans will be contained in one document, which should be completed and presented to trustees by November or December. Work on the plans will begin in September. The plans, dealing with what schools should do during certain disaster situations or emergencies, will be drawn up using the same format for each school.
Nishino said he’d like to see the district looking to the future, setting one year, three-year, five-year and 10-year goals.
Marilyn Dubil covers education and law enforcement for The Times. Reach her at (408) 779-4106 ext. 202 or at
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