Will the interim tag be removed from Morgan Hill Unified School District Superintendent Steve Betando’s title?
Board of Education members won’t say. But two trustees have said hiring a search consulting firm is not a necessity – even though January is the prime time to jumpstart the process to fill the top position.
“I do not think at this point that it is in the best interest of the district or the community to hire a search firm,” said Trustee Amy Porter-Jensen. “There is a lot going on in the district right now with the charter schools, the focus academies, and the use of Measure G funds to name a few, and I think Steve is the person to continue to move us forward in a positive direction.”
Trustee Claudia Rossi agreed that spending “$30,000 to $40,000 for a search firm” would not be the best use of district funds when Betando has already proven to her that he is “the man for the times right now.”
Betando, more than five months into his one-year interim post that started July 1 and pays $192,000, took the job at a tumultuous time – replacing former superintendent Wes Smith – with one charter management company (Gilroy-based Navigator Schools) petitioning the district with the intent to open an elementary school in 2014 and a second (Redwood City-based Rocketship Education) planning on doing the same.
“Morgan Hill Unified is an outstanding community and an outstanding district,” shared Betando, who currently resides in San Jose. “I’ve been honored to be here and the Board will have to make a determination about what their next steps are.”
Since November, the Board has been conducting Betando’s performance evaluation in closed sessions, as posted on the previous two school board agendas. However, Board President Don Moody said those discussions, as well as any talk of a new contract for Betando or the possible hiring of a search consulting firm, are “confidential” since they are personnel items. Trustee Bob Benevento said he had no comment for that reason.
“I think he’s done a stellar job for us. He’s done all that we’ve asked. I really like his style,” Moody said. “I think we were very fortunate that we had somebody with his experience already in-house. He was able to hit the ground running. We were very, very fortunate.”
Local attorney Armando Benavides, an advocate for at-risk students and a vocal charter school supporter, believes the next step is hiring a search consulting firm to “see what’s available out there” and listen to “different ideas (and) different perspectives” from a pool of superintendent candidates.
“We’re looking for the top leader of the district,” Benavides said. “The Board has the obligation to at least look at the field to see what’s out there … how are they going to know who is the best qualified if they don’t do a search?”
In past hiring practices of superintendents, the Board hired a search consulting firm – including a $21,000 expenditure in 2009 that found Smith – to help walk the trustees through the hiring process, beginning with identifying a pool of candidates. Trustees have also held community forums to gain input and appointed community members to be involved with the interviewing of candidates.
Parent Valerie Renggli, the technology committee chair at Paradise Valley Elementary School, believes the same procedure should be followed by the Board in deciding the district’s next superintendent.
“As with any key position, multiple candidates should be considered,” explained Renggli, not excluding Betando from the list of possible candidates. “I think we have a lot of opportunity to improve the education in Morgan Hill and I think we need an advocate for change.”
There are differing views on just what that change should be, however.
The charter school saga, which began with Navigator’s initial petition submitted to the district back in April when Smith was still at the helm, has created a clear divide in the community between those seeking an alternative to what the traditional public schools offer and those in full support of the programs already in place and planned for the future within MHUSD schools.
“That was a real challenge that I thought he met head-on,” Moody said. “He’s not only had to only step up and deal with that as his first big issue but also the day-to-day (duties that come with) running the school district.”
Betando immediately took a strong stance in opposition of both charters; recommended their petitions be denied by the Board (which did so in identical 6-1 votes); and has helped steward proposals for two new focus academies at existing MHUSD elementary schools for the 2014-15 school year. He also defended the Board’s charter decisions before the Santa Clara County Board of Education, which is reviewing both on appeal. That decision will be made Jan. 15.
“I think it’s hard to truly evaluate his job performance because of so much time spent focusing on the charter issue,” commented trustee Rick Badillo, who cast the lone vote in support of the two charter petitions.
“I still hope that we can collaborate if the charters come to Morgan Hill,” Badillo added. “The kids from our district that go to these schools are still our kids. I hope our next superintendent is able to bring the community together.”
Before the Board unanimously voted in Betando as its interim superintendent in April, he was the district’s assistant superintendent of human resources, coming aboard in January 2012 and starting on an interim basis. Six months later, he was hired as a full-time employee.
Betando’s experience in human resources, Rossi believes, “will be particularly relevant due to what we believe is coming” insofar as the district’s assertions that the opening of two charter schools next year will result in the loss of teacher positions and re-shuffling of current staff due to the closing of an existing elementary school.
“My comfort level that this is the man for the times is very, very high,” Rossi said.
Betando, who holds a bachelor’s degree from San Jose State and a master’s degree in Education, Administration and Supervision from CSU-Stanislaus, started in education as a teacher in the Franklin-McKinley and Salida Union school districts. He then served as a vice principal and principal in the Stanislaus Union School District during his education career that dates back to 1984. Before coming to Morgan Hill, Betando served as interim human resources director for the San Lorenzo Valley Unified School District and assistant superintendent in the Fremont Unified School District.
“I feel very fortunate to have had this opportunity (in Morgan Hill),” said Betando, noting that regardless of what the Board decides, his focus remains on making Morgan Hill “the most successful district in the nation.”
MHUSD replaced former superintendent Jim Crow with Carolyn McKennan in 1996. Both served nine-year terms. McKennan’s successor, Alan Nishino, served for four years from 2005 to 2009 before Smith took over. Smith’s 3.5-year tenure is the shortest since the original superintendent, Dr. H.M. Nicholson, lasted just one year in 1966.
