By LESTER CHANG
The Fremont Union High School District Board of Trustees has extended Superintendent Mary Panucci's contract until June 1998.
The board action came in spite of recent attacks by two-thirds of the district's teachers claiming Panucci lacks the ability to lead the district.
At their June 4 meeting, without much discussion, board president Franklin Pelkey and board members Nancy Newton, Randy Okamura and Homer Tong voted to support the contract's extension.
Board member Andrew Springmeyer abstained from the vote, offering no explanation.
Panucci, who is in the final year of her three-year contract and is paid more than $100,000 a year, declined to comment on the matter.
The board indicated Panucci has played a significant role in helping the district recruit, hire and develop highly qualified and effective members of the instructional and support staff, a goal the board had previously set for the district.
Panucci also was recognized for:
* attracting a diverse, qualified staff of teachers and support personnel. The ethnic breakdown of employees was not immediately available, but the school district has sought individuals from different ethnic backgrounds to fill jobs;
* delivering programs that support staff in helping students improve academically;
* promoting relationships with employee organizations to reach common goals;
* developing employee evaluation systems; and
* recognizing the work of employees.
The goals set by the district are part of a five-year plan by the district to improve education. Other goals include setting up a challenging curriculum; providing a supportive learning environment; continuously improving educational programs; providing management of resources and fiscal stability and communicating the goals of the district.
Fremont Education Association president George Gredassoff said Panucci has done little to improve the district.
"We don't think that she has the skills, the wherewithal, to run the district," Gredassoff said. "Where is the leadership?"
Two-thirds of the district's nearly 400 teachers recently signed a petition expressing a vote of no confidence in the way Panucci has led the district and handled contract negotiations.
The teachers' union blames her for delays in resolving contract talks, which began in January, although the district has maintained it wants to resolve the matter as soon as possible.
The current contract expires in August.
Negotiators from the district and the FEA have reached a stalemate on the touchy issues of salary, health and retirement benefits.
The negotiation teams have made little progress on how to use about $9 million in reserve funds, the key source for funding a contract proposal.
While some of Panucci's employees don't think she has properly handled the negotiations, educators at De Anza College think she has been an asset to education in Silicon Valley.
At a June 9 luncheon at the college, Panucci was to share honors with Margaret Kern Wozniak for community service and Advanced Micro Devices Inc. for its corporate and business contributions to the Foothill-De Anza Community College District.
Martha Kanter, president of De Anza College, said Panucci, in the three years she has led the district, has become a powerful force in shaping education in Silicon Valley.
While Panucci has been superintendent, the district has won the coveted "Blue Ribbon" award, given by the U.S. Department of Education to some of best schools in the nation for academic excellence.
Monta Vista and Fremont high schools also have been selected as distinguished schools by the state Department of Education.
Panucci has also played a key role in forming a partnership with the college that allows high school seniors a head start by attending some classes at De Anza, college officials said.
This article appeared in the Sunnyvale Sun, June 12, 1996.
©1996 Metro Publishing, Inc. All rights reserved.