On Aug. 13, Iglesias addressed an audience of primarily school administrators in the Hoover Middle School Historical Theatre. After poking a little good-natured fun at departing San Jose Unified School District Superintendent Linda Murray, Iglesias acknowledged some of the achievements the district has made during the past year. He said the district has maintained the highest graduation rate in the state of California and the highest rate of graduates, 64 percent, satisfying University of California and California State University requirements.

Iglesias also commended district staff for balancing the budget for the 2004­05 year. "It took great sacrifice from everyone present," he said.

Looking forward into the school year, Iglesias said the next challenge was to cut $9 million for the 2005­06 school year and to address the projected $40.9 million cumulative budget gap that will accrue during the next four years while finding a way not to cut services and staff. Although he said there were only "tentative plans" of action being considered and didn't delineate what they were, he promised to overcome the growing deficit.

As Iglesias discussed the budget crisis, he also noted that the district had drawn scrutiny from community members. "It is difficult for the community to lose schools," he said, but he commended staff members for their professionalism and dedication in dealing with the sensitive situation.

Iglesias, however, didn't shy away from emphasizing the community's lack of trust in the way the district conducts business. He said that one of his major priorities as superintendent would be to develop strong parent and community involvement in district affairs. "We need to have the voice of the community in every decision we make," he said. "We want the highest possible level of communication with parents and the community."

Communication between parents and the district could become critical in the area of special education.

Iglesias said reducing special-education services would be a "major focus" in balancing the budget. While insisting that future cuts in special education were unavoidable, he added, "We want to be consistent in what services we offer. We want to offer quality services at a reasonable price."

Iglesias is also looking for ways to stop the district's declining enrollment and keep attendance on a daily basis high in all the schools, because both factors are tied to the amount of state and federal funding the district receives. "We need to be more aggressive in marketing schools to increase enrollment. We should market our schools to neighboring districts and throughout the county," he said.

Even with the necessary funding cuts to balance the budget, Iglesias made it clear that improving students' achievement would be his first priority. He wants to better prepare students to meet college-preparatory requirements and planned to initiate college-preparatory curriculum as early as kindergarten.

Although Iglesias faces challenges in the areas of decreasing district spending and restoring the community's faith in its neighborhood schools, the new superintendent expressed confidence in his and his staff's ability to overcome these obstacles.

"You are the right folks and this is the right time," he said. "We are going to do wonders for this district."