One-school district leader to head state educators group

By: SHAYNA CHABNER - Staff Writer | Thursday, January 24, 2008 9:51 PM PST ∞

SAN PASQUAL VALLEY ---- When requests go out for volunteers to lead committees, organize leadership institutes and to fill other positions in the education field, Frank Gomez says he is usually the first person with his hand up.

The superintendent and principal of the one-school elementary district in the San Pasqual Valley has built his education career around taking advantage of every opportunity that has been placed in front of him.

"I made a decision that when I leave this business years from now, I wanted to know everything that I could about education," Gomez said, adding that the only area where he has had a limited role in shaping education is at the state and national level.

That will change in the spring, however, when Gomez takes over as president of the Association of California School Administrators. The organization represents more than 16,000 school and district leaders statewide and has a prominent voice in discussions on educational issues and laws in Washington, D.C. and Sacramento.

"Who would know that raising your hand and saying I'll do it would come back to you?" Gomez, 53, said Thursday as a broad, contagious smile spread across his face. "That's how my name got onto the ballot."

Gomez is currently finishing up a year as the organization's president-elect, and will move into his new post in June. As the president he will have to split his time between serving as the organization's head and leading the 600-student San Pasqual Union School District.

Gomez has worked in San Pasqual Union ---- the small district just east of Escondido in the San Pasqual Valley ---- for more than a year.

Before coming to the district, however, he held several positions throughout North County school district, including as the principal of a handful of elementary and high school campuses, a summer principal of a middle school, and as a teacher of elementary, high school and special education students.

He has made a name for himself throughout the state as being someone who is passionate about education and a genuine, kind person and leader who encourages others to bring their best to the table.

"I just can't wait to work under him," said Bob Wells, the executive director of the administrators association. "When you have a leader like Frank Gomez who knows what he believes in and believes deeply, it makes people just want to naturally follow him."

In his new post, Gomez said he hopes to draw from all of those experiences to help build professional development programs and training opportunities that will help other administrators lead at their own campuses and improve education for students. He also said he is eager to be a part of the discussion on budget cuts and the reauthorization of No Child Left Behind, which calls for all students to be working at grade-level in math and English by 2014.

Both his ability to effect changes in policies and voice local viewpoints on education issues, and his early knowledge of changes coming down the pipeline, Gomez said, will also improve how he does business in the valley.

"He is going to be on the cutting edge of events," San Pasqual Union board President George McClure said Thursday, adding that the board is happy to have Gomez take on the responsibility.

"Access is as good a reason for having him do it as anything else," McClure added. "It happens and he knows about it."

Contact staff writer Shayna Chabner at (760) 740-5416 or schabner@nctimes.com.