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Published on 02/03/1997 All articles from this issue

Departing MV-LA schools chief looks back, looks forward to P.A.

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By Bruce Barton / Town Crier Staff Writer

Don Phillips has a few mixed emotions about leaving the top spot in the Mountain View-Los Altos Union High School District for the superintendent position in the Palo Alto Unified School District.

"There's a sense of excitement about the new," he said last Thursday, after the Palo Alto school board picked him among two finalists Jan. 29. "On the other hand, there's a sense of loss, having to leave behind so many friends and colleagues."

Phillips, Mountain View-Los Altos schools chief since 1990, leaves a district with two main high schools and 3,000 students to head a district with two high schools, two middle schools, 11 elementary schools and an enrollment of approximately 9,000 students. He is scheduled to start in the Palo Alto district April 21.

Palo Alto board president John Tuomy said Phillips,48, was "absolutely the best person for the job."

Phillips' work on shaping $58 million plans for renovating aging high school facilities at Mountain View and Los Altos schools may translate well to a $143 million facilities overhaul the Palo Alto district is currently undertaking.

With Phillips taking the Palo Alto position, the focus of a MV-LA district superintendent and school board retreat this past weekend in Monterey shifted to developing a timeline for hiring a new Mountain View-Los Altos schools chief, said board president Judy Hannemann.

Hannemann said she would be contacting search firms this week, and expect proposals before the board by mid-February. She said the board hopes to be interviewing candidates by May and have a new superintendent in place by July 1. Concurrently, she said the board would be looking for an interim superintendent to serve between April and the end of the school year.

"We have a very strong administrative team right now," Hannemann said, "probably the best we've ever had.

"We want to build on what we have already."

She praised Phillips as a leader who could aptly juggle several projects simultaneously, while keeping himself and others around him focused.

"What Don has done, is getting everybody to be with us, and buying into new projects," Hannemann said. "He had us all moving forward," Hannemann said.

Phillips leaves with confidence that the district will be in good shape.

"We have such a good team in place," he said. "Things are in order to handle this transition smoothly."

District achievements under Phillips' reign include a 1991-92 high schools master plan, an "innovative" grants program, AVID (Advanced Via Individual Determination) and alternative school programs.