Superintendent’s view: Change after change, all for the better

— Superintendent Bill McCabe

Superintendent Bill McCabe with Trustee Bert McSwain during a school officials’ conference.

“ Obviously, we are extremely proud of the achievements of the past 25 years … and we look forward to continued growth into the future. “

Bill McCabe looks back with pride over the past five years that he has been superintendent of the Yosemite Joint Union High School District. He is proud of the achievements and the growth the district has experienced.

“People who are here make it work,” he says. “We have creative, hard-working people who have students as their priority. That’s what makes it work.”

He says the district continues to work to become more service-oriented.

Mr. McCabe believes there have been more changes in education in the past five years than there was in the last 20 years.

Statewide standards, technology in the classroom, standardized testing, class size reduction at certain levels, preparation for the High School Exit Exam and a shortage of teachers are problems education is facing statewide.

“We have worked hard to implement the standards and to have uniformity throughout our curricular programs,” Mr. McCabe says.

Some of the things of which he is most proud are the passing of a bond in 1998 that has allowed Yosemite High School to expand and modernize its facility and YHS being named a California Distinguished School in 2001.

He has brought a new perspective to education by hiring management level people from private industry. He cites, as an example, the district’s director of business services who has many years of experience in the private sector. Mr. McCabe created a new position at the district level soon after he was hired as superintendent, that of public relations / grant writer, who also came from private industry.

“We have come a long way in the last five years, we have elevated academic integrity dramatically and we continue to raise student expectations,” he says.

There have been changes at the administrative level in the past couple of years with a new principal and a new vice principal at YHS.

“New people always bring a new approach to their position and I am pleased with the direction our new principal, Steve Raupp, and the new vice principal, Randy Haggard, have taken our organization,” he says.

Under Mr. McCabe’s leadership, the alternative education programs in the Yosemite Joint Union High School District have been reorganized and one new school, Mountain View, has been created.

‘Feeder’ cooperation

Cooperation with the feeder schools has never been better, he says, noting that a lot of work is being done to align the curriculum between the high school and the elementary schools.

YJUHSD has added a new attendance system, using state-of-the-art technology.

“Technology has been a significant achievement in the district,” Mr. McCabe says, “we have done a phenomenal job.”

When he refers to technology, he thinks beyond computers. The district has put in a new telephone system to make communication easier; the staff uses e-mail at an increasingly frequent rate, management personnel use cell phones extensively.

Over the past five years the number of computers in the district has increased dramatically. There is now at least one computer in every classroom for student use, thanks to the Digital High School grant the school received a few years ago. There are also five computer laboratories at YHS that allow students to learn skills they will use in their careers.

… Back when he started

Mr. McCabe has been at YHS for 21 years, starting his career here as the agriculture teacher.

“Twenty-one years ago, the ag farm was a greenhouse in a box, a portable building and a power pole,” he recalls. The bridge to the farm was a 2x12 board across the creek. Through a lot of community support and donated materials and time, the farm improved and expanded.

Lumber for a barn was donated by Ed and Sara Wilkins. The lumber came from the drying barn at the mill site that was located at the intersection of Highways 41 and 49 where a shopping center is now located.

Some of the school staff worked during the summer to put the barn together. The Tees Brothers donated fencing to go around the farm and they also did considerable work, much of it donated, to build a storage unit.

Sam and Chandler West built a second addition to the barn. (Sam West returned to YHS the past few years to oversee the remodeling of YHS as part of the bond project.)

The animal pens and the concrete work at the farm was all volunteer labor with much of it done by students as part of their class work. There was also a lot of volunteer welding done at the farm, with thanks to such people as Tom Cashman, Larry Pamplin and the Tees family.

Mr. McCabe has been instrumental in the school bus driver in-service that the district has hosted the past 15 years. It has become one of the largest in the state with more than 600 people attending.

After a few years as the agriculture teacher, Mr. McCabe became coordinator for the Vocational Education Act/Regional Occupational Program (VEA/ROP).

Under Superintendent Jerry Livesey, Mr. McCabe was given more administrative responsibility. In the mid-1980s he was named principal of Adult Education. He was later an assistant principal at YHS and then district principal for special programs.

He became assistant superintendent under Superintendent Angelo Pizelo. When Dr. Pizelo retired in 1996, Mr. McCabe was selected as the superintendent.

Looking to the future, Mr. McCabe says the YJUHSD will continue to change and improve to meet the needs of students, staff and the community. “I believe we’ve just scratched the surface of technology and that we’ll see increased emphasis and application in our educational setting.”

He goes on to say that “our school is a work in progress. Our facility will continue to grow and improve based on the input and desires of everyone who has an interest. Ultimately we will continue to raise the academic performance throughout the organization and embody the spirit of a true Distinguished School.”

Mr. McCabe says as the area continues to grow, the district will develop a southern campus to meet the needs of students.

“We are caretakers of this place for a short time,” he says. “This institution will endure forever. In time, new people will take over. We’re empowered with the community trust and, hopefully, we exercise good judgment.”