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
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