New Principal Hopes to Have Lasting Effect

Like other seniors at Santa Paula High, Judith Novoa has seen three principals come and go during her four years at the school.

“I don’t think it should be that way,” Novoa, 17, said. “I think there should be just one principal for years, without changing.”

Santa Paula’s newest principal, Bob Fisher, agrees.

In his first year as principal of the 1,200-student school, Fisher, 52, said he hopes to remain for 10 years or until he retires, whichever comes first. His goal, he said, is to provide long-term leadership at the school that will help turn around low scores on standardized tests, curb high dropout rates and improve on the school’s lackluster reputation in the community.

“That’s the first question I’m asked--how long am I going to be here,” Fisher said. In a meeting at the start of the school year, he said, “I told the teachers that this is not a steppingstone for me. This is a destination.”

One of the first moves Fisher made was to start monthly tours of the campus for parents, community leaders and residents.

Usually led by a teacher, the tours are not announced to students or teachers. The aim is to show the community firsthand what’s going on in Santa Paula’s classrooms, Fisher said.

“I’d heard that Santa Paula had a lot of problems, but I don’t believe that,” said Fisher, formerly an assistant principal at Thousand Oaks’ Westlake High School. “Santa Paula has a lot of challenges and a lot of opportunities. . . . The reputation of the school will improve if people know what is happening. We have a large number of very bright students, and we’re not given credit for that.”

A state report in May showed that the district had the highest dropout rate in Ventura County, 28.4% of the class of 1989.

And although the school outranked most other county districts on a recent statewide physical fitness test, scores in reading, math and science on the California Assessment Program test dropped.

The school is 70% Latino, but 85% of schools statewide with a similar ethnic makeup and socioeconomic background scored better on the CAP reading test.

Fisher, however, said the school tested students with limited English skills for the first time last year. Previously, the district was out of compliance with state regulations because it did not test those students, he said.

Fisher and teachers at the school hope to enlist the community’s help in turning those figures around. Campus tours might be one way to do that, he said.

Supt. Carolina Erie said parents of Santa Paula elementary students who might one day attend the school are also invited on the tour.

“You show people that students are in place, well-behaved and that our teachers are doing a good job,” Erie said.

Wednesday, Fisher led two mothers and a grandmother on the tour. Novoa translated his comments into Spanish.

Estella Bustillos, 65, graduated from Santa Paula High in 1944. Her two children are also graduates, and she has a granddaughter there now.

“I’m here because I really believe parents should know what’s going on in the schools,” Bustillos said. “I like what I saw. There’s a lot of good happening.”

Board President Shirley Hendren said the school’s reputation has declined for a number of reasons, including poor scholastic achievement. “Some of those reasons are ethnic, some of them were because of the poor facilities, the lack of maintenance and repair.”

The Spanish-style school, built in 1933, is a state historical landmark. But it is plagued with dry rot, peeling paint and outdated plumbing and electrical wiring.

The city passed a $5-million bond measure in June to renovate the school, and the district received $2 million from the state to make other repairs, scheduled to begin in January.

This year, a strict new attendance policy--including hallway sweeps to round up tardy students immediately after the late bell--has decreased the number of students who are late or absent, school officials said.

Officials are also considering a policy to keep students on campus for lunch and a dress code that would ban specific gang-related clothing. The school board makes the final decisions.

Fisher said he hopes that the tours and other efforts will lead more community residents to join school committees and volunteer to work at Santa Paula High.

“We need to get you and you and you involved in our school,” Fisher told the women. “In this group alone, I have three more people who can say to their friends and neighbors, ‘Why don’t you go see?’ ”