F.A.Q.

By Mike Davenport

Questions asked by the Morgan Hill Times with Mike Davenport's answers

2. Why are you running? A. I want to take this team and create greatness + not for the members of the board but for the students... they are our community. I have a successful track record of taking dysfunctional teams of good players, not unlike what we have today, and leading them through transformation into high performance teams of exceptional caliber and accolade. Our community has vast resources, but current results prove these resources are not being managed properly. I am confident we can achieve greatness by driving out mediocrity.

3. What do you think are the main issues facing the school district? A. Selecting a Superintendent to start in June 2005, fiscal "ordinary negligence", Coyote Valley development, team leadership from the Board of Education as one entity rather than a group of individuals with multiple and diverse agendas, and community pride in our school system.

4. What will be your top priority? A. Set a concise and understandable vision for the school district, and then establish three sets of goals... Board set goals, Administration set goals, and community set goals. Finally, foster initiatives that support the success of the goals.

5. Next? A. Drive unity and respectful notoriety of the School Board while driving academic achievements of students and teachers. Infuse pride in the school system starting with neighborhood school pride and then pressing best practices into infrastructure across the district.

6. With Supt. McKennanıs contract coming to an end in June, what qualities do you think are important to look for in the new superintendent? A. Paramount is a successful track record and long list of accomplishments. It is similar in some respects to selecting a new CEO but with a very special industry of public education. Additionally, I will look for demonstrated practices of community leadership as well as positive reception by that community.

7. Assess student achievement in the district. A. We have a mixed bag of results that do not allow me to be satisfied with current achievement and I am quite concerned about the current trend. Students are not being taught how to take advantage of the vast resources available in the district. Many do not have a sense of pride for the opportunities before them. Their adult advocates are fighting, recalling, and walking out on meetings! The results of this type of dysfunction will be apparent for a few years. We need to revisit what decisions were made 3 to 5 years in the past to evaluate the results we witness today. Then take this in mind when we sit down with current issues to model expected outcome as needs to be seen in that world.

8. Is the school board open to the public? A. Portions of the meetings are open to the public yet demonstrated practices do not provide closed loop communication with the public from the board. The result is no feedback or understanding as to why the board acted on an issue contrary to public outcry - even by board appointed committees!

9. What do people talk to you about? A. People I speak with are tired of the current situation. The general feeling is that nothing is changing and the district has been focused only on building two new schools as the expense of the rest of the schools. I get a lot of support right on the street with comments like, "Good for you! We need sensible people like you on the board."

10. How can communication with parents, the school community and community at large be improved? A. Close the loop. The board will continue to make decisions on issues so there needs to be an explanation as to the final decision. Timely feedback is key. Best of all is to be involved in the community. Meet people for lunch, coffee, and social events. Lastly, have a well known and easy method of communication. The Board could have a simple to use web page with a web form for the community to get their message to the board. To close the loop, the board could then answer concerns in written response published and available at board meetings or posted via the internet or news paper.

11. Advanced classes, honors classes, middle school and high school: where do you stand? A. Students desiring to be placed in an advanced class with respect to their current status should have the recommendation of their most recent teacher of that subject. Honors classes should continue this process but remain purposeful for college preparatory and advanced learning. Middle school is the crucial period of a student's development where many attitudes towards scholastic achievement and importance will be formed for a lifetime. Focus of Middle School students should be on pride, self discovery, self worth, pride in achievement, and purposefully equipped for success in High School. High School is where it gets serious. Quitting (dropping out) should not be an easy option as it is today. Focus in these years should be on preparation for higher education, industry, and life long learning. Development should be on building good character, formulating moral integrity, and sharpening life skills.

12. In terms of programs in the district (reading programs, music, etc.), should district-wide models be adopted, or should decisions about programs be left up to individual campuses? A. Both. That is, the district should provide policy or infrastructure for all schools and then implementation of that policy by each school. Our faculty and staff are the district's greatest asset, yet not all are exceptional at everything. One example is that one High School may have a greater music program than the other and as such more emphasis on that program but all feeder Middle Schools shall have music programs. Differentiation exists at some level of each school... it is the responsibility of the Board to provide availability to those programs to all who seek it.

13. Where is district with regards to technology? A. The district is in the dark ages. A personal poll of 10 k-12 teachers at Back-To-School nights yielded 4 that knew there e-mail address and most admitted they do not have time to use it. One Principal is having paralyzing roadblocks to provide even ONE laptop on a cart as a shared resource. We are in the heart of the technology world and it is overdue for a revival of great wealth and resources that technology brings.

14. What are you most proud of that is going on in the district? A. I am impressed with the leadership demonstrated by most of the district's Principals.

15. What would you do to retain teachers in the school district? A. Public Recognition of excellence, teacher mentoring, establish a 1-on-1 program to manage individual expectations to those of the district and its vision. Investigate the plausibility of longevity incentives.

16. What is your position on vouchers? A. Currently there is no voucher system. My position remains open at this point in time.

17. What steps would you, as a board member, take to promote the growth of both of the districtıs comprehensive high schools while maintaining the strength of both of them? A. Each school demonstrates strengths in different areas. Board set infrastructure to promote a well rounded set of accolades that equip each student for higher education, industry, and life-long learning upon graduation needs to be the driving vision. With that vision in mind, we are at a time in our culture where we celebrate diversity not hide behind it. Appropriate competition, accountability, cross functional partnership, and pride will allow iron to sharpen iron.

18. Concerning the new high school, are you satisfied with whatıs going on, what would you have done differently, etc. A. The new High School is a great new asset to our district. As a project management professional and Engineer, I cannot fathom the magnitude of oversights that plague this project. It seems to me that the district overestimated its abilities and trust while underestimating the cost overruns that are targeted for almost $50 million. It is clear that there needed to be extensively more planning done prior to execution. Also, I would have checked repeatedly for egoless decisions as misplaced pride seemed to bash about while the project's milestones fell to the side of the road as progress failed. The community saw these failures and cried out to get the attention of the board yet the outcry fell on deaf ears as some egos seemed to be screaming louder than the public.

19. How would you define the relationship of a board member to the superintendent and district staff? A. The Board is to provide policy and direction where the Superintendent and Staff are to promulgate that policy. The Superintendent is the only employee of the Board yet the responsibilities of the District's decisions are shared by the Board and Superintendent. There need to be a carefully balanced equilibrium of admiration, respect, and camaraderie. Trust must be established early on and NEVER violated. One model of success I use is that one entity asks for input on a subject to take into consideration prior to making a final decision. This allows dialogue and involvement. Also, it provides empathy for the other position as well as investment in valuing the other entity.

20. How would you define the districtıs relationship with the city and city council? A. I witnessed a meeting recently that proved to me that the District's dysfunction is viral in its overall demeanor. The city and its council members seem are demonstrating a will to work with the District but communication efforts proved no interest. This MUST change and WILL change starting at 6:00pm on December 6, 2004 when the new Board is seated.