Del Mar names schools leader | Jamul-Dulzura's Bishop is chosen

Chris Moran
The San Diego Union - Tribune
Mar 28, 1998. pg. B.1.5

DEL MAR -- Thomas F. Bishop, superintendent of an East County school district that has won numerous awards for its high-quality schools, has been named superintendent of the Del Mar Union School District.

"This man has tremendous energy and passion for kids and education," said Del Mar school board President Jeanne Waite.

The board chose Bishop, superintendent of the Jamul-Dulzura Union School District since 1986, from among 39 applicants. Waite said Bishop's work in building a new middle school, modernizing elementary schools, securing a technology grant for Internet connections and presiding over the passage of a $9 million school bond in 1995 impressed the Del Mar board.

Bishop, 48, currently runs a three-school district with 1,200 kindergarten-through-eighth-grade students.

"I like small school districts because there's a genuine sense of community," Bishop said. "Working in a small school district allows a superintendent to know all the employees, many parents and some of the community."

He will begin working part time in Del Mar on May 4, dividing his time between Del Mar and Jamul-Dulzura until June 29, when he begins working full time for Del Mar.

"To keep the quality of education as our district grows will be a challenge," Waite said. The Del Mar district has some 1,870 students in three kindergarten-through-sixth-grade schools. Explosive growth in Carmel Valley is expected to increase enrollment by 10 percent in the fall, when the district opens its fourth school.

A release issued by Del Mar and Bishop notes that Jamul-Dulzura schools have won National Blue Ribbon Excellence awards in 1989 and 1996, state Distinguished School awards in 1988, 1990, 1992, 1994 and 1997, and a California School Boards Association Golden Bell Award in 1997.

The board plans to ratify a contract with Bishop at its Tuesday meeting. Waite would not specify what Bishop's salary will be before the board ratifies his contract, but said it would be similar to the $106,000 salary former Superintendent Robert Harriman was paid.

Harriman led the district for 13 years, but was put on administrative leave in October for reasons that neither he nor the board have fully disclosed. He resigned in December under an agreement that will pay him as much as $166,420.

Del Mar officials performed their search confidentially and never publicly named any candidates for the job until their announcement that Bishop was their choice.

Credit: STAFF WRITER

School board to quiz 4 mystery candidates

Chris Moran
The San Diego Union - Tribune
Mar 14, 1998. pg. B.1

DEL MAR -- Four anonymous school administrators will come to town next week to make their pitches to run Del Mar's elementary schools.

The five school board members who will interview the mystery visitors won't identify them -- not their names, gender, ethnicity or state of residence. In fact, four won't talk about the search at all, deferring to board president Jeanne Waite for comment.

By early April, Waite said, the board expects to announce its choice.

"With all of the tremendous growth in our district, we look forward to identifying a superintendent that will move us into the next century," Waite said.

The candidates' identities are being shielded for fear that public knowledge of their candidacy could hurt their relationship with their present employers, Waite said.

Waite commended the performance of Interim Superintendent Herb Farrar, but said that his role is limited largely to caretaker and information gatherer until a permanent replacement arrives. Authority to establish a vision through which the kindergarten- through-sixth-grade district can tackle its challenges -- namely growth -- resides in a permanent leader, she said.

The growth is stunning. The current enrollment of 1,872 is distributed among three schools. A fourth is under construction in Carmel Valley. The district's projected enrollment when the school opens in September is 2,067, a 10 percent student population increase in one year.

Waite said the district may build two more schools within the next three years.

The school board placed former Superintendent Robert Harriman on administrative leave on Oct. 18 for reasons that neither board members nor Harriman have fully disclosed.

Credit: STAFF WRITER