BY ROBIN SHEPHERD

SPEND AN HOUR WITH STEVE BETANDO and you ’ ll realize there is a lot to learn about education . Betando is Superintendent of the Morgan Hill Unified School District ( MHUSD ), and he sees education entering a kind of Renaissance period . Teaching methods , learning environments , curricula and standardized testing are all evolving as schools and local communities work together to prepare students for the future .

MHUSD encompasses nearly 300 square miles , making it the largest school district in the county . The district serves the ethnically diverse population of Morgan Hill , San Martin , portions of San Jose , and unincorporated areas of Santa Clara County . Within the district there are more than 9,000 students enrolled in 14 schools : seven elementary , one K-8 , two middle schools , two high schools , a continuation high school and an adult education school .

“ It is our responsibility to serve the community by making a quality education accessible to all students ,” Betando said , “ and several factors have created new opportunities for us to do so .”

“ A new funding formula through the California State Department of Education , Local Control Funding Formula ( LCFF ), has helped us to reduce class sizes for increased teacher-student interaction and personalized instruction . It also helped us to bring teacher salaries on par with similar school districts . And we ’ ve been able to invest in new services for community outreach , bi-lingual community liaisons and counseling among other things .”

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