The appointment of Rex Coffman as Los Paseos Elementary School principal left many parents taking a deep breath as they face a fifth principal in six years.
Deborah Bennett-Hall, who served as principal of the school last year, retired unexpectedly in June, said Morgan Hill Unified School District Assistant Superintendent of Human Resources Jay Totter.
Before her, the principals were Rhoda Wolfskehl in 2006-07 and 2005-06 school year, Bob Davis in 2004-05 and Joanne Yinger in 2003-04.
"Although we are extremely fortunate at Los Paseos to have a tremendous teaching staff and a strong parent presence, in the absence of consistent leadership, it has been very difficult to launch and sustain any meaningful new initiatives or improvement efforts," said Mary Patterson, parent of a Los Paseos student, at the July 22 trustee meeting.
Trustee Peter Mandel said "everyone in the room" agreed with the four parents who complained about the frequent turnover.
"I don't think that any of us were expecting that teacher to retire," Mandel said. "We're very optimistic that the principal coming in will do a great job, build the community and stay in place for many years. That's the intent, and that's what is good for the school."
Board member Bart Fisher said if the district was having that level of turnover at all its schools, he would be concerned.
"Los Paseos has had a combination of bad timing and bad luck," he said,
Fisher was confident that Rex Coffman, who transferred from an assistant principal position at Martin Murphy Middle School, would stick. "Rex made a commitment to come here last year, and he was already in that area. Moving him from the middle school to the elementary school is absolutely the right thing to do. Unfortunately, we can't control when our principals try to retire."
Trustee Julia Hover-Smoot agreed.
"Hopefully Mr. Coffman can bring them all together. They're a nice group of parents," she said.
Coffman said he was operating on a "huge learning curve," after serving as an administrator at middle and high schools and teaching secondary school for several years.
When asked how long he plans to stay at Los Paseos, Coffman said, "forever."
"I'm not using this as a catapult into the district office or otherwise," Coffman said. "I'm interested in learning inside and out, in becoming the most expert in elementary schools. I have no desire to leave in the next four or five years, at least."
Natalie Everett Natalie Everett covers education and city issues for The Times. Reach her at (408) 779-4106, ext. 201, or neverett@morganhilltimes.com.
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