Morgan Hill – It wasn’t a sweep by incumbents with Morgan Hill voters in Tuesday’s election choosing three of four local school trustees seeking re-election and newcomer Bart Fisher winning the seat lost by Amina Khemici.
Trustees Shelle Thomas and Mike Hickey were voted in for a second term, and Trustee Don Moody, who was appointed in 2004 to fill the remainder of the term for former Trustee Tom Kinoshita when he resigned, was elected to his first full term.
Thomas was the top vote-getter, with 22.77 percent of the vote, or 7,364 of the total 32,336 votes; Moody was second, with 6,958 votes, 21.52 percent. Hickey and Fisher were only 63 votes apart, Hickey with 6,562 and Fisher with 6,499 for 20.29 percent and 20.1 percent. Khemici trailed with 4,953 votes, 15.32 percent.
“Of course, I want to thank the people who supported me, and I’m looking forward to continuing to work together to make sure our school district is the best it can be,” said Thomas, 55, who begins her second term on the board. “It feels good to be able to continue the good work we’ve started, supporting the public agenda.”
Fisher will join the board for his first meeting on Dec. 12 and will be sworn in during the meeting, along with Thomas, Hickey and Moody.
“I’m excited to work with the other trustees,” Fisher said. “I’ve had a wonderful time; I’ve enjoyed the opportunity to talk to all the people I have met as a result (of the campaign). I think it’s great that so many people voted for me.”
During his campaign, Fisher, 40, a program manager, emphasized the importance of communication with the community and within the district. He also told voters he wanted to develop community partnerships.
Moody, 53, said he felt “rejuvenated” from the campaign, even before the actual election rolled around. The fact that retained his seat, he said, was an especially good feeling.
“I’m pleased; it will give me a chance to see through some things we started,’ he said. “The process also helped to clarify things and really cement some of my thought processes. It was a great opportunity to talk with parents, with community members, to hear about things that were of concern to them about our schools.”
Hickey
Khemici, though disappointed, said she is happy for her fellow trustees.
She, Moody and Thomas emphasized during their campaigns the importance of communication, as well as other board goals, including student achievement and respect and support for all district employees.
The board will face issues including labor unrest, as the classified workers represented by the Service Employees International Union protest the district’s contract offer and will go into mediation with district officials, and the Morgan Hill Federation of Teachers is considering filing several grievances.
Fisher will bring his perspective on the proposed Coyote Valley development to the board; the Specific Plan being created for development could be approved by the San Jose City Council, and work could begin during Fisher’s term.
The School Board is the governing body of the MHUSD, responsible for hiring and overseeing the superintendent and setting district policy. The board is comprised of seven at-large seats, each with four-year terms. Three of the seats – held by Trustees Julia Hover-Smoot, Peter Mandel and Kathy Sullivan – will be up for election in 2008.
Three of the newly-elected trustees were endorsed by the Morgan Hill Federation of Teachers, which supported Fisher, Khemici, Moody and Thomas.
“We look forward to working with all the newly-elected trustees,” MHFT President Donna Foster said. “We are very happy that three of four persons we endorsed were voted into office, and we’re looking for to working with Mike Hickey. I’ve always enjoyed good communication with Mike, and hope that there is some questioning of board decisions and gaining input from teachers and community so that they’re not working in a vacuum, and they can understand the background. I think asking the superintendent to bring things forward so that all information is available to the public, and they understand some of the concerns teachers have around curriculum and process decisions being unilaterally changed.”
Marilyn Dubil covers education and law enforcement for The Times. Reach her at (408) 779-4106 ext. 202 or at
md****@*************es.com.
