By KATHERINE PETERSEN
A committee appointed by the high school district last fall gave high praise to district hiring policies, but critics argue that committee members weren't asked to address the real problem.
The committee was formed after a hiring at Cupertino High School sparked charges of nepotism against administrators. A popular temporary teacher, who was elected teacher of the year by students and comended by parents, was let go. Instead, the district hired the principal's goddaughter; the newly hired teacher was also the daughter of a vice principal at another school.
Chairwoman Laura Kidwiler said the 11-member committee she headed did not address specific cases--such as the Cupertino High School hiring--nor was it asked to.
"We looked at the current policies and procedures. We agreed that we would limit our study to the task that we were given. We were not focusing in on specific incidents," said Kidwiler, who is the assistant superintendent of human resources for the Santa Clara County Office of Education.
The committee found the district's policies and practices pertaining to hiring effective, and offered minor suggestions for rewording them.
But FUHSD trustee Andrew Springmeyer, a vocal critic of some district hirings, said the problem is not with district policies. Rather, the problem lies in the district's practices.
"Policies are one thing. Practices are what they do and how they hire. The board is shirking its responsibility again because it's in favor of protecting what the administration is doing, and I don't think the citizens of the area want the board to be doing that," he said.
The board reviewed the committee's report on Jan. 14 and made the suggested changes.
The committee could not study individual cases because of privacy rights, Springmeyer added.
"The district has a practice of hiring friends and family, but not a policy against it," he said. "I'm not satisfied at all with how the board has handled it. The administration was charged with reviewing their own decisions."
Cupertino resident Rich Tygerson, a parent whose child attends Cupertino High School, agreed that the board responded badly to a complaint about a popular teacher not being rehired.
Personnel documents obtained by The Sun showed that the teacher, Matt Whitlock, had received favorable reviews from his superiors..
"They should have just told us they could hire whoever they wanted. At least they would have been telling the truth," Tygerson said.
The committee found the district's policies had a "wide range of checks and balances to ensure that finalists are objectively selected; and the hiring decisions, which must also include subjective considerations, are appropriately delegated to the site."
Principal make many of the final hiring decisions after candidates have been screened by the district, said Mike Hawkes, a committee member and principal of Lynbrook High School.
The committee offered suggestions for updating language in policies regarding equal-opportunity employment and increasing its recruitment budget in order to intensify recruitment.
This article appeared in the Sunnyvale Sun, January 22, 1997.
©1997 Metro Publishing, Inc. All rights reserved.