Nishino reflects on last four years

When Dr. Alan Nishino talks of the students he’s seen succeed
during the last four years leading Morgan Hill Unified School
District, the last leg of his 39-year educational career, his face
lights up, a wide smile erupting on his tanned face, his dark eyes
crinkling.
When Dr. Alan Nishino talks of the students he’s seen succeed during the last four years leading Morgan Hill Unified School District, the last leg of his 39-year educational career, his face lights up, a wide smile erupting on his tanned face, his dark eyes crinkling.

Nishino, who finished his two-month interim term as superintendent Monday after retiring from the position in June, waxed poetic on the look on student’s faces when as a principal he announced they’d won an award, or when as a coach he announced them the winner of a race.

“I’m thinking of the faces of the kids I saw last night (during the Board of Education meeting),” Nishino said. “I’m thinking about the kids that I see when I’m walking the schools, and what their futures look like, and (wondering) have I helped put things in place to help them be successful citizens in a democratic society? Have I helped them have the full breadth of the advantages of a public education? Did I really make the decisions that will allow them to be successful? Everything else is just secondary to how kids are. I want that to be the last picture I see, kids being happy, kids smiling.”

With a quick step and a penchant to orate, the 63-year-old leader has overseen many great strides during his tenure. More than half of the district’s schools earned double-digit Academic Performance Index score increases since 2005. The index is the main scorecard in the No Child Left Behind Act. The district API score has increased from 741 in 2004 to 767 in 2008.

Further, Algebra I is now a mandatory class for eighth graders, contributing to overall increased academic rigor so that 70 percent of district students graduate with the course work necessary to attend a university, up from 37 percent in 2004.

Nishino also amped up the English language learners program, devoting a staff member to the cause and increasing the number of English learners who were reclassified as fully English proficient from 94 in 2005 to 174 last year.

All this was done with declining revenues, too. In the past two years, Nishino and his team have slashed $13.4 million from the general fund thanks to declining revenues. That’s almost a fifth of the district’s $74 million general fund resulting in more than a dozen layoffs of teachers, custodians and other district staff.

“We have tried not to have an impact on students, but when you look at the big picture, the most noticeable impact to students was the consolidation of our two elementary schools,” Nishino said, referencing the consolidation of Burnett Elementary School into P.A. Walsh Elementary School. “However, when you look further than that, we know that the budget cuts have a significant impact on available resources for us to continue to move forward with improving student achievement.”

Trustee Julia Hover-Smoot credited Nishino with using data to influence and tailor curriculum, and for aligning district curriculum, particularly in the elementary schools.

Nishino mostly taught physical education for 25 years in Southern California before entering administration. He was a superintendent for 14 years. Before coming to Morgan Hill in 2005, he led Castaic Union School District in Southern California and Alameda Unified School District for five years each.

Nishino said he looked on proudly as the nearly 1,000 district staff commingled during a development day before the school year started.

“To see that teamwork, being an old coach, nothing is more important and gratifying than to watch people work together to accomplish a goal. To do it individually is one thing, but to do it as a group, a large group, is very challenging and therefore very rewarding,” Nishino said.

Yet one of the central criticisms of Nishino is that he’s unable to collaborate, with teachers pointing to the Public Employee Relations Board complaints filed by the teacher’s union and their overdue union contract as evidence of this.

Lydie Jones, a parent of students at Live Oak High School and the Charter School of Morgan Hill, said Nishino was a good listener, very sociable and eloquent, and that she respects him tremendously. But she was disappointed that he didn’t get along quite as well with teachers.

“As a coach, you should be able to find the right balance and bring everybody together. I wish he had been able to work better with the teachers,” Jones said. “You could see the animosity, the pain, the feeling of disrespect. You could see that there was no communication.”

Nishino disagreed with this assessment. When asked about the controversies that have marred his career, his smile evaporated.

“If I’m a child, and I go to you and you’re the parent, and I ask, ‘Can I have this?’ and you as a parent say, ‘No,’ and I say ‘You’re not listening’ – no, I’m listening, I’m hearing, I understand. We don’t agree. That doesn’t mean we’re not collaborating or … there are things we did a lot of collaboration on. Those are never brought up. But some things we just agree to disagree … I don’t think that’s bad or wrong, that’s just the way life is.”

Nishino has said he doesn’t get a fair shake from the public: good deeds go unnoticed, but he’s attacked for every misstep. He said that statewide, union contracts are often late.

“I didn’t sit on the negotiating team. The superintendent doesn’t make all the decisions. There’s a negotiating team, there’s a board that gives direction,” he said.

Trustee Kathy Sullivan said Nishino has dealt with more than his fair share of criticism.

“I think that he is a human being, and he probably responded to that in a very human way,” she said. “He came in and he made changes. That never is a happy situation for anybody. I’m very sure people will miss Nishino when he’s gone.”

Hover-Smoot agreed.

“I know that Alan has stepped on some toes. Could he have been more political and schmoozy? Probably, although that is not his style. He has kept the support of the Board, through all the controversies, because he honestly and deeply cares about our students,” she wrote in an e-mail to the Times.

Board President Don Moody said, “At the same time he might rub adults the wrong way, he’s always done what he felt was right for students.”

Morgan Hill Federation of Teachers Local 2022 President Theresa Sage and Service Employees International Union Local 715 President Pam Torrisi congratulated the departing leader.

“We wish him well in his retirement,” Sage said. “He spent 39 years in education, and that’s always admirable.”

Trustee Peter Mandel said Nishino is one of the few people who made an impression on him that he’ll remember for the rest of his life.

“While we agreed on many goals and initiatives and respectfully disagreed on others, his deep-felt commitment to do what was right for the children, and his broad set of skills to get the work done, was never in question and witnessing that level of commitment made a strong impression on me as a key to strong leadership,” Mandel wrote in an e-mail to the Times. “His dedication to education and to improve the lives of the children of our school district has made a lasting impact on our district and I thank him for his contribution to our district.”

Nishino’s focus on students was evident during his last board meeting Aug. 25, He addressed high school students who packed the room, earning their civics credits. He told them to remember they were working hard in school for no one but themselves – not their teachers, not their parents.

“I can still see the faces of kids who are so happy. For some of those kids, it may be the first time anybody rewarded them for anything, and it can change the course of the life of a child,” he said, adding that he hoped he was able to help a lot of students become better citizens.

“There were times when I was discouraged. When you weren’t able to accomplish the things you hoped to accomplish, or weren’t able to make enough decisions to impact a child’s success. But there were a lot more, a heckuva lot more good times. Every graduation, every student, when you asked where they’re going to college, and seeing the smile on their face when they tell you. Those are the moments I’m going to miss.”

Nishino said he plans to spend more time with his family during his retirement.

“Right now, I am looking forward to the opportunity to spend more time with them. Long term is of course an open door.”

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