Dr. Alan Nishino

The Fillmore Unified School Board is pleased to announce the selection of Dr. Alan Nishino as Interim Superintendent. Dr. Nishino will serve the district until the Board searches and selects a new superintendent spring 2012.

Dr. Nishino has served for 14 years as a school district superintendent. He was the superintendent of Morgan Hill Unified School District in Morgan Hill, California, and Alameda Unified School District in Alameda, California; both are K-12 districts with approximately 10,000 students. He was the superintendent of Castaic Union School District in Castaic, California which is a smaller K-8 school district with approximately 2,500 students.

Dr. Nishino was the 2007 San Jose Educator of the Year. He has served on advisory committees for California State University, Northridge, the University of Southern California and the Los Angeles County Sheriff. He was a master teacher for student teachers from USC, CSU Northridge and Chapman College.

Many of his early years in education began right here in Ventura County at the Hueneme Elementary School District where he was a teacher, assistant principal and principal. Dr. Nishino has lived in Oxnard since 1980.

His many leadership strengths as a district superintendent include increasing district wide test scores and decreasing high school drop-out rates; increasing student passing rates on the California High School Exit Exam; increasing the number of students taking Advanced Placement Classes; implementing a significant number of technology based services for students, staff, and parents; significantly increased the number of middle school students in Algebra and successfully connected the school district to community and civic leaders.

Board President, Virginia De La Piedra, stated, “Dr. Nishino impressed the Board with his passion for academic excellence. He is ready to be a partner with the Board in ensuring that all the students in Fillmore receive the highest quality education. His experience in a wide variety of districts and communities will go a long way in assisting us to positively move forward. The Board believes that we have many strengths in the district but there are also areas where we can improve. We believe that Dr. Nishino will help us develop a road map for that improvement. One of his former board members stated that his absolute strength is that he will always focus on and make decisions on what is best for kids and that is what we want for Fillmore Unified students.”

Dr. Nishino will begin working in the school district on July 28, 2011. To assist with a smooth transition, during the first few weeks he will meet with the Board to clarify key district objectives, meet with teachers, parents, staff and administration to introduce himself, and review data that will help define responsibilities and timelines.