Escondido Schools Chief Leaves Post for New Job

This was back-to-school week for everyone at the Escondido Union School District except Supt. Bob Fisher, who announced he is leaving in less than two weeks for a much smaller district in Northern California.

And some trustees say that’s probably a good idea.

Fisher, 52, shepherded the elementary district through six years of explosive growth when it nearly doubled in size, and he recently oversaw the conversion of five schools to year-round schedules.

But some of Fisher’s bosses suggested that his management style had grown stale, personality conflicts had developed with trustees and that a fresh leader would be welcomed.

“I think Bob did some very good things, but I think we are ready to move in a new direction,” school board President Kathy Marler said. “ . . . There is not a major problem. I really do wish him the best. I hope he will go up there and work out well.”

Marler said Fisher’s “ideas for the future of our district” clashed with the school board’s plan, but she declined to elaborate.

Hours after learning about Fisher’s departure, Trustee Dawna Nerhus said she was looking forward to hiring “an exciting, dynamic, visionary sort of person to take over the reins.”

Fisher said his move is largely a lifestyle decision. He said he has grown children in Chico and San Francisco and loves Northern California. He said he wants to see the change of seasons and work in a small district with grades K-12 instead of in an elementary district.

He said he is not leaving to escape from the Escondido schools but to “look at another option.”

“The district had many problems when I arrived, and I feel the district has progressed in many areas,” Fisher said. “I have made my contributions to the district and I feel a change is natural.”

To some observers, the superintendent’s departure wasn’t a total surprise.

In April, trustees evaluated Fisher in a closed session but did not extend his contract, which expires in 1994. Insiders said the board took no action to avoid a public vote on the contract, which could have proved embarrassing to Fisher.

Two weeks ago, trustees discovered Fisher was looking for a new job when representatives from the Castro Valley Unified School District came to Escondido to evaluate him.

On Wednesday, Fisher was named superintendent of the Castro Valley district, a suburban school system about 20 miles southwest of San Francisco.

He will be paid $90,000 a year to oversee the 11-school, 6,300-student district, contrasted with the $90,068 salary he made in the 18-school, 15,000-student Escondido district.

The strain of educating a large non-English-speaking student population will nearly disappear in Castro Valley. The percentage of non-English-speaking students in Escondido increased 200% over the past four years, Fisher said, but Castro Valley has very few non-English-speaking students.

Assistant Supt. Jim Fitzpatrick, Fisher’s close friend, said his boss has been eager to return to a smaller district where he could know everyone.

“For Bob, this is a good professional move,” Fitzpatrick said. “Bob has talked about the frustration of running a large district.”

Fitzpatrick praised Fisher for battling the city for the schools’ fair share of redevelopment money and for keeping the district fiscally sound enough to ward off budget cuts a year longer than neighboring districts.

Still, it hasn’t been an easy year for Fisher. The district suffered through nearly $4 million in budget cuts, including many employee layoffs; converted five schools to year-round schedules, and saw pitched battles over its birth-control curriculum and censorship issues.

Fisher came under attack from parents and teachers when he restricted access to Roald Dahl’s classic children’s book “The Witches” after a handful of parents complained it glamorized the occult.

That decision prompted the board to adopt a policy that bars the superintendent from restricting books.

The school board will meet Thursday to choose an interim superintendent and decide how to search for Fisher’s replacement. Marler said she expects the search to take four to six months.

Fitzpatrick said he might apply for Fisher’s job.

As word of their leader’s departure disseminated Wednesday, staff members had mixed reactions.

Ron Giles, principal of Rincon School, praised Fisher’s business acumen and “expertise in so many areas.”

“I’m really sorry to see him go. I think he has done an excellent job in Escondido, and he is a very good superintendent for a principal to work for. If you do a good job, he is extremely supportive.”

But Donna Watson, president of the teachers union, said her group has mixed feelings about Fisher, who she said tried to dominate and run the union early in his six-year tenure.

“We had a rough beginning with him, but I think we made some progress over the past year,” Watson said.