The Sun
Sunnyvale's Newspaper

Salary talks top list for new district chief

New superintendent vows to be out of the office and on the school campuses

By Katherine Petersen

Residents, teachers and high school district employees greeted Joe Hamilton's appointment as superintendent with thunderous applause at last week's school board meeting.

"I had to stop reading because of the noise," board President Randy Okamura said. "It was a great show of public approval."

Hamilton, who has worked for the district five years as associate superintendent, has already gained respect from teachers, principals and other employees, said Pete Tuana, principal of Fremont High School.

"Through his accomplishments, he has shown his leadership skills and his passion. I think he can smooth the way for a positive future," Tuana said.

Hamilton has been a teacher (even serving once as president of the union), a football coach and a principal at James Logan High School in Union City. Logan High School received both the California Distinguished School and Blue Ribbon awards during Hamilton's tenure as principal. He also had a hand in developing a student union on Logan's campus for after-school activities.

One of the most pressing matters facing the new superintendent is concluding salary negotiations with the teachers union. The dispute over wages and benefits has dragged on for a year and a half.

"Right now negotiators are talking and making progress, and I'm hoping we can work out a fair settlement that can be approved as soon as the teachers come back. That's the first step," Hamilton said.

Union President George Gredassoff said he looks forward to an improved relationship between the union and the administration with Hamilton at the helm.

"All parties involved want to build a trusting relationship," Gredassoff said. "He understands that we can't keep going on this way. I think he will bring peace."

Once a contract is settled, Hamilton can focus on a "healing process"--opening up communication between administrators and teachers and developing a greater level of trust.

"Some of the damage that has occurred because of labor negotiations will be able to heal," he said. "My primary function will be to help that process in any way I can."

Further down the road, Hamilton wants to see the wiring, plumbing and leaky roofs fixed in all five high schools.

"Our newest high school, Monta Vista, is 30 years old," he said. "Everything is outdated and needs repair."

A bond measure is a possibility, he said.

Part of his new job as superintendent will be figuring out funding sources for such a project.

Hamilton said his style as superintendent will be to spend a lot of time visiting campuses, maintaining contacts with the cities of Sunnyvale and Cupertino and attending school plays and football games.

"I have to do some administrative functions to make sure the district runs, but I like to free myself of those things as much as possible. I like to be in the schools--talking with custodians, talking with students, eating in the cafeteria," he said. "I want to find out the concerns of all who are involved in the district." The principals will run the schools, but Hamilton wants to be in touch with what's going on. He also likes to "shadow" students, .picking three or four students and following them from class to class throughout the day.

"I'm not there to evaluate teachers, but to experience what's going on from the students' perspective," he said.

Hamilton and his wife, Kathi, plan to move into the district from their home in Fremont sometime this year.

"It's not a requirement but something I want to do," he said. "It will give me more time to be involved with the community, which I think is very important."

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This article appeared in the Sunnyvale Sun, August 6, 1997.
©1997 Metro Publishing, Inc. All rights reserved.