By LESTER CHANG
The Fremont Union High School District board of trustees on Dec. 12 re-elected G. Franklin Pelkey as president, a position he assumed in August after the ouster of board president Homer Tong.
Amid calls for unity among trustees at an organizational meeting that day, Pelkey won the appointment by a 4-1 vote, with Tong dissenting.
Tong, whose tenure as president was supported by some residents, was criticized by some board members for failing to set aside enough time to serve the board and for ineffectively communicating with school administrators.
In other elections, the board named trustee Nancy Newton as vice president by a 5-0 vote. Tong was chosen as clerk by a 3-2 vote, with trustees Andrew Springmeyer and Pelkey dissenting.
Newton was nominated to become the board's next president, but she declined. She said that she would rather serve the entire board and that the presidency was time-consuming.
Pelkey, elected to the board in 1990, has been an educator for 37 years. He taught high school business and psychology in Pennsylvania; served as a high school teacher, a principal and an assistant superintendent in Barstow, Calif.; and was the director of instruction for the Sunnyvale Elementary School District.
Pelkey was principal of San Miguel, Bayside and Cumberland elementary schools in that school district for 14 years before he retired in 1990 and ran for the board. He holds a doctorate degree in education from the University of Southern California.
Pelkey said his chief goals as president are to serve the community and "its public education" as best as he can."
At the meeting, neither Pelkey nor any of the trustees spoke specifically about Tong's ouster earlier this year. Tong was removed despite pleas from the public not to reorganize the board until this month, as scheduled. Board members replaced Tong early chiefly because the evaluation of Superintendent Mary Panucci was late.
The evaluation, which was favorable for Panucci, gives the board a chance to establish the district's educational goals for a school year. Before his ouster, Tong said it was difficult for board members to agree on the evaluation's content.
Tong also was criticized for not regularly communicating with Panucci, not setting down clear operating procedures and not keeping discussions focused.
Under Pelkey's leadership, the board must rebuild its public image and assure parents that it is committed to keeping the Fremont Union High School District one of the best in California, Tong said.
"Our job is to the success of our students," he said. "Politics got in the way, and it should not be a part of what the board does."
To avoid conflicts on the board in the future, Springmeyer suggested the board adopt a policy that outlines the responsibilities of the president. He said the board could function better if board members communicated better with one another, adding the lack of communication sometimes left him in the dark "about a lot of things."
Pelkey said confusion surfaced when board members didn't communicate on issues. In one case, he said, Springmeyer gave him a list of things he thought Springmeyer wanted the board to implement. Actually, Springmeyer said, the items listed were things he wanted the board to consider, not to act upon.
Pelkey said the board will try to send clearer signals by speaking with "one voice."
Trustee Randy Okamura added the board also could profit by getting away from "board politics." The role of the board is to help the staff and students find the "gift of every student," he said.
This article appeared in the Sunnyvale Sun Wednesday, December 20, 1995.
©1995 Metro Publishing, Inc. All rights reserved.