Alan Nishino, chosen as the Morgan Hill School District
’s next superintendent, has devoted his working life to
education.
Alan Nishino, chosen as the Morgan Hill School District’s next superintendent, has devoted his working life to education.
Born in Minnesota but raised in Lomita and Hemet – both in Southern California – Nishino, 59, earned degrees in physical education from California State University at Long Beach, taught school and coached at the elementary and high school levels. His undergraduate minor was in geography.
He later received a doctorate degree in education from the University of Southern California and moved into school administration.
Before going to his current job in the Alameda Unified School District in 2000, Nishino served for five years as superintendent in the Castaic School District, near the Tehachapi Pass in Southern California, where he focused on increasing standardized test scores and overall student performance.
Earlier in his career, Nishino served as assistant superintendent of educational services in the Eastside Union School District in Lancaster; worked as a teacher, assistant principal, and principal at Hueneme Elementary School (near Oxnard and Venture) for 13 years; and as a high school teacher and volleyball coach in the Los Angeles Unified School District.
There are a few things to keep in mind if Nishino is Morgan Hill’s next superintendent, said John Newton, an Alameda School District parent.
“Whatever the situation is, he’s going to do what’s right for the kids,” Newton said Thursday. “Not what’s right for parents, not for teachers, not for the unions, but what’s in the best interests of the kids in his district.”
Newton said he saw this commitment to students first hand.
“Some of the changes he instituted specifically affected our school,” he said. “As a parent, I wasn’t sure I agreed with them, but the motivation was the students … One of the things he did do was to bring more parity to the east end and west end of our district, pieces of the town that have a great disparity of wealth. He made sure things were available to students at all levels no matter their income.” With the financial troubles of the state and individual districts, Newton said, Nishino found alternative ways to pull money into the districts.
“He’s a motivated grant-getter,” Newton said. “In our district, he focused on finding grants, going out and getting the money. He managed to secure a parcel tax, a construction bond and numerous grants for the district. He knows how to move through those applications, he wants to find everything that’s possibly out there for his district… But you have to know, while he’s working, he’s there in the trenches, he doesn’t like to take center stage. This is not a man who will seek to be recognized for himself but for what his students achieve.”
Nishino has been married to his wife Akiko for 26 years; the couple has two children: Akiko Krystina, 24, and Garrett, 22.
Marilyn Dubil covers education and law enforcement for The Times. She can be reached by e-mail at
md****@mo*************.com
or phoning (408) 779-4106 ext. 202.
