Morgan Hill Unified School District Superintendent says her
final farewells to the district she has served for nine years
Although she won’t hand over the reins officially until June 30, Superintendent Carolyn McKennan received the good wishes of her peers and the public during a short reception before the June 6 School Board meeting.
Alan Nishino, selected by trustees officially on May 9 to replace McKennan, also received a warm reception in his honor last night at the district’s office. Nishino will start in the new position on July 1.
Approximately 50 people attended the reception to say goodbye to McKennan.
“I have been very impressed with her commitment to her job right down to the end,” said Trustee Kathy Sullivan. “She has continued to attend all the school events and functions, when she could have said, ‘I’m done, I don’t have to go.’ But she has gone, she has not given up her position yet.”
McKennan, who was hired by the School Board in 1996, did not seek to renew her contract, which expires June 30.
Sullivan said three comments she hears about McKennan can sum up her feelings for the superintendent’s service to the district: “I heard, especially during her reception, what a lady she was, what a professional she was and how she always put the kids first,” she said. “I think if people summed up my career like that, I’d be pretty happy about that.”
McKennan was never afraid of hard work or controversy according to former School Board Trustee Del Foster, who worked with McKennan while she sat on the board from 1996 to 2004 and served as president in 2000.
“Her willingness to take on the tough issues, that’s what stands out to me,” he said. “She took on a really difficult task and followed it through, getting the ninth graders back in the high school. She took a longstanding problem and made it her problem. And this year, we had our ninth graders back where they belong.”
For 25 years, district ninth graders were educated in local middle schools, first Britton and then Britton and Martin Murphy. In August, the district’s second comprehensive high school, Sobrato, opened with ninth and tenth grade students. Live Oak High went back to being a full four–year high school with freshmen on campus.
Foster, a Live Oak alumnus who saw first hand the changes at the school, said McKennan also did not forget what is most important in the district.
“She would always think about what’s best for the kids,” he said. “Too often, that is pushed aside for other considerations. But she didn’t let that get pushed aside.”
One of the things she will miss most about the district, McKennan said, is the students and the people she works with daily.
“I will truly miss all the people,” she said. “So much goes on here every day that fills your heart with joy, and sometimes breaks your heart. There are constantly spirited conversations around teaching and learning. Just being around the office, at the school sites, you can’t help slipping into conversations with the professionals we are fortunate to have in our district about how to improve student learning. This is a caring group of people, a group of people who are driven to find the best, to bring out the best in all of our students.”
McKennan’s tenure has not been without controversy. During her last five years with the district, School Board meetings were sometimes contentious, even emotional, with controversial issues bringing vocal parents and community members to speak at the meetings.
Many times issues arose due to a lack of communication, according to members of the public who complained to the board, something the trustees tried to address by improving communication – both within the district as well as outside – a board goal for each year.
A major point of contention for many in the district and in the community who follow the educational news has been McKennan’s cumulative longevity bonus.
The bonus was a part of the contract negotiated by trustees and members of MHELA, the Morgan Hill Educational Leaders Association.
McKennan – and other top administrators including Deputy Superintendent Bonnie Tognazzini and some district principals – received a bonus each year based on how many years they stayed with the district. McKennan’s bonus was $5,000 for each year she stated for a total of $40,000.
Another point of controversy during McKennan’s reign was the district’s relationship with Jacobs Facilities, Inc., the construction management firm that built Barrett Elementary, started the renovations at Live Oak High and drew up the initial plans for Sobrato High. When new board members Shellé Thomas, now board president, Mike Hickey and Amina Khemici were elected in 2002, one of their first actions was to jettison Jacobs and hire Turner Construction, the firm that built Sobrato High.
“It’s an end of an era,” Thomas said. “It’s been nine years, it’s been very definitive. There have been many defining moments during the years she’s been in the district. It is like changing presidents. We’re going to build on the foundation she’s created. This is a new beginning, a time now to re-evaluate what you have been doing and where you are going.”
