To understand the passion parents have for Cupertino schools it is important to know that people as far away as China and India know about the school district before they even arrive. And when people from these countries move to the Bay Area, they sacrifice so their children can attend Cupertino schools, even specific schools in the district. It's not unusual for people to arrive in the Bay Area wanting to live in the Kennedy Middle School district. Newcomers often make strategic housing moves, working their way toward Cupertino. Madhavi Talasila and her husband moved from India to Fremont in 1991. When they learned about the high academic standing of Kennedy, they moved to Sunnyvale, where they could afford their next home, and then to Cupertino so their children could attend Kennedy.

So when major issues such as redistricting school boundaries come up, parents get involved. When the district was planning to redraw middle school boundaries, parents came out in droves to argue for specific plans. Talasila, one of the parents in the recall movement, says because of the new district boundaries, her youngest son will not be able to attend Kennedy. "There were community meetings," says Talasila, "but nobody listened." Her youngest son, now in third grade, will attend a new middle school that will open at the old Collins Elementary School campus in 2005.

Many thought the only reason for redistricting was to resolve the overcrowding in middle schools. They were not aware that the redistricting was a precursor to moving sixth grade up to middle school.

But by August 2005 the district will require sixth grade to be a part of middle school.

The recall parents are upset that this decision was made without parent input, and they think this move was Bragg's hidden agenda.

Currently the school district has a limited, voluntary sixth-grade program in its schools, giving parents the unusual choice of sending their sixth-graders to either elementary or middle school.

This choice will not be available in 2005, when all sixth-graders will be attending middle school.

"Choice is vital to me," says Kathy Dye, one of the recall parents, who has children with special needs and is concerned about them going to middle school too soon. "Parents should have the choice, because some sixth-graders are not prepared for middle school. This should be a district of choice. But that choice is being taken away."

Dye and some parents blame Bragg's leadership style for the frustrating situation.

Elizabeth Tadman, a parent who has been actively involved in district issues for many years, says, "Dr. Bragg works from the top down. There is no communication or give and take in the district. He doesn't listen to parents. He comes to us with already made decisions. It didn't use to be that way. Parents have always been involved in the decision process."

Communication—or more precisely, the lack of it—has been a major topic in the district since the teachers' contract negotiations in 2002.

"It's not just the middle school implementation process," Tadman explains. "[Bragg] doesn't talk or listen to us on any district issue. That's just his management style, to do whatever he wants. If he talked to us or was willing to listen to us, maybe he would win us over."

As far as Bragg is concerned, he's doing exactly what he was hired to do.

In 1997, the district faced the task of configuring the middle school program to include the sixth grade, something they'd been working on since 1991.

Vice Mayor Sandra James, who was the school board president at the time, says, "The whole country was going through that change because educators felt sixth-graders have more in common with seventh- and eighth-grade students and that teachers could impact kids more in three years."

After reviewing candidates through a national search, Bragg stood out because he had initiated the middle school implementation at Oceanside Unified School District in San Diego County. During his 12-year tenure at the 20,000-student district, Bragg served as the deputy superintendent of instruction.

Besides having experience in this middle school implementation process, there were other attributes that set Bragg apart from the four finalists applying for the superintendent seat.

James says that Bragg, who was a teacher for 12 years, had a strong background in curriculum.

James joined Barry Chang and other members of the board for an on-site visit to Oceanside.

"Bill was highly valued at Oceanside," James says. "He had a great relationship with the teachers and parents in that community. The board unanimously agreed that Bill had the most experience and was our best candidate."

Chang is the only current board member who was involved in the process of hiring Bragg in 1997. The Cupertino Courier has tried to contact Chang for an interview, but he did not return repeated phone calls and emails.

Bragg's qualifications do not convince parent Kathy Dye that moving the sixth grade to middle school is the best for students, especially children like hers with special learning needs.

"Every student has different abilities. Parents should have the choice to decide what's best for their children," Dye says.

Superintendent Bragg, who was not aware of Dye's situation, says in addition to various programs that help with students' transition from elementary to middle school, such as WEB (Welcome Every Body), the district also has programs that assist students with special needs.

"We would like them to come and talk to us," says Bragg about Dye's situation. "We need to know so we can accommodate the child's special needs. And I don't think that middle school has less capacity in dealing with that condition."

The district did not always have the voluntary sixth-grade program. It started in 1998, after Bragg was hired, as part of the middle school implementation process to prepare people for the upcoming change.

Nevertheless, the middle school implementation program has been a controversial one in the district, even with board members.

Photograph by Jacqueline Ramseyer Cupertino Union School District board president Ben Liao (left) and Superintendent Dr. William Bragg address an overflow crowd on May 14, 2002 when teachers marched to the board's meeting to protest lack of progress in contract negotiations. Shortly after that, the district brought in a consultant to help the district develop better communication.

"I used to be one of the parents against the program, but now I agree and support it," Liao says. "Many people have changed their minds about the program. I agree that choice is important, but I believe the middle school implementation program's benefits outweigh its negative points."

According to Liao, a three-year middle school education creates a more cohesive environment for students to bond with one another. The extra year also gives teachers more time to learn about their students and take better care of them.

Liao says that middle school gives sixth-grade students more class choices. "For example, they can take wood shop or join a sports team, things that are not available at the elementary school level," Liao says.

Although James left the school board to run for the Cupertino City Council soon after Bragg's arrival, she has worked with him on various youth issues through the years. James says she has found Bragg "extremely helpful, cooperative and responsive."

Some parents, on the other hand, criticize his leadership style and question the intentions behind his initiatives.

Parent Elizabeth Tadman, for example, does not understand why Bragg is opening a fifth middle school at the Collins site because she does not believe a new middle school is sufficient to resolve overcrowding in Cupertino's schools.

Overcrowding has been an issue at many of the schools in the district, such as Kennedy, which currently serves approximately 1,400 students.

The Collins middle school is expected to open in August 2005, the same time the district completes its middle school implementation program.

"Right now we only have about 25 percent of sixth-graders in middle schools," Tadman explains. "In 2005, when all sixth-grade students are moved up to the middle school level, one more middle school would not be enough to accommodate all the sixth-graders. What are we going to do then—build another middle school?"

Tadman speaks for one faction of parents who argue that keeping the choice for sixth-grade enrollment and opening a new elementary school would be a more sensible idea.

Bragg, however, says currently more than 50 percent of sixth-grade students are in middle school, not 25 percent.

As of December 2002, statistics show that there are 1,800 sixth-grade students in the district, with 252 at Cupertino Middle, 153 at Hyde, 287 at Kennedy and 254 at Miller. That's a total of 946 sixth-grade students at the middle school level, which makes up about 52 percent of all sixth-grade students.

Furthermore, Bragg says, a fifth middle school will help alleviate the overcrowding situation by maintaining the numbers of students at 950 for Hyde and Collins and 1,200 for the other three schools.

"A fifth middle school will accommodate all the kids. The numbers of students are manageable numbers," he says.

According to Bragg, his vision is to carry out the newly revised district strategic plan, which—in addition to implementing the sixth-grade shift to middle school—includes building leadership capacity and improving student learning, development and achievement, among other goals.

Tadman and other parents argue that they do not know the superintendent's vision and that the district has never communicated such information to the parent community.

"I feel like an outsider," says Judy Wong, whose child attends Faria Elementary and will not be going to Kennedy because of redistricting. "I don't know his vision or what he's trying to do. If he wants us to go, then sell us. Don't just shove it down our throat."

Liao categorizes this situation as an example of the lack of communication between the administration and the parent community.

He says, "We do have a problem with communication in the district. The district should work harder to improve communication with parents."

Bragg agrees that there was a communication breakdown in the past but says he has met with parents to learn their concerns.

After the contentious teachers' contract negotiation of 2002, the district ordered an evaluation of its communication practices. Tom DeLapp, president of Communication Resources for Schools, evaluated the district's performance in terms of communication effectiveness and made recommendations to improve the process.

After conducting focus group sessions and interviews with more than 400 people, DeLapp reported that although the issues are not unique in Cupertino, the district definitely lacked a sophisticated communication system.

Some of the recommendations DeLapp suggested included developing a strategic communications plan, creating a communication advisory committee and conducting communications training programs for district staff.

Board member Liao says that he has not seen enough effort from Bragg in carrying out those recommendations.

He says, "Bill has tried by creating a more informative website and newsletters. But I don't think he has done enough to implement the recommendations."

Bragg disagrees. "We have been implementing Tom's recommendations, and I believe communication has improved. I think the majority of people recognize the process is in place and are ready to move on," he says.

Some of Bragg's efforts include a weekly email updating district staff about the current budget crisis, a monthly anonymous survey covering various education issues and a monthly newsletter on the back of students' lunch menus reporting school board actions.

Members of the school district community, including teachers and parents, are not unanimous in their opinion of how well communication has improved.

Nancy Noto, a Stocklmeir teacher who has been teaching in the district since 1970, believes Bragg's recent efforts are working.

"While we did have a communication problem in the district, I have seen a willingness from Dr. Bragg to try to be open and listen to the teachers. He has come around to hear our concerns. The board members have also been coming to talk and listen to teachers."

Noto sees these changes as hopeful signs.

"I think this is a good opportunity for teachers to work with him and the school board," she says. "Being a badly underfunded school district, the increasing pressure has made it difficult for people of all levels. Everyone is stressed. So instead of pointing fingers, we should work together. We're all in this together," Noto says.

She believes newsletters such as the Superintendent's Briefs have been helpful in keeping her aware of what's happening in the district.

Mariana Latham, a teacher at Kennedy Middle School, believes Bragg's efforts have not produced satisfactory results.

"I have the sense that he likes to be in the driver's seat and have control of things," she explains. "I don't have a sense of open communication with him. While I think he is trying to make things better, he doesn't appear to encourage open communication between the board and the teachers."

"He seems uncomfortable with the idea of dialogue between groups in the district, especially where he is not involved or included in the dialogue. Some groups in the district seem to be intimidated by him, " continues Latham, who has taught in the district for 39 years.

But the recall parents are not intimidated. They don't like what they say is Bragg's top-down management style, which they feel has left parents out of the decision-making process. Out of frustration they have begun a recall movement against two newer board members, Pearl Chen and Gary McCue who they feel support Bragg.

The recall parents have until April to gather 9,000 signatures. At this time, they are not revealing how many signatures they have gathered.

Bragg believes the group of "dissenting voices" is small but is loud because of excessive media coverage. Parents say they have not received enough media publicity.

Regardless of the group's size, board member Liao does not support the recall.

He says, "Recall is a right of voters, but this time the reason is wrong. The reasons they list for this recall [available on the website www.forbettercusd.com] are board actions, not individual actions."

Liao believes the parents' true intention in the recall is to remove Bragg, whose contract is up for evaluation and renewal. According to Liao, Bragg's contract could be renewed for up to four years. The school board could make a decision anytime between March 10 and June 30.