Woodburn Independent Online

Bautista ready for challenge

New Woodburn School District Superintendent David Bautista returns after three years at Salem-Keizer

• By: Lindsay Keefer  
• Published: 3/1/2010 8:37:18 AM

Photo By: Lindsay KeeferDavid Bautista
David Bautista worked in Woodburn from 2001 to 2007 before moving to the Salem-Keizer School District. However, he said he always wanted to come back to Woodburn, should the opportunity arise.

WOODBURN — David Bautista, who was selected by the Woodburn School Board as the new district superintendent starting July 1, is a familiar face.
 
Bautista, 53, worked at the Woodburn School District for five years as director of the English transition program, developing and implementing programs for non-English speakers and for dual language learners.
 
“Woodburn is an outstanding community,” he said. “It is shining because of the programs it offers for children.”
 
Bautista said the district already has several elements in place.
 
He said the size of the district and the population provide every opportunity to have the best model in the state and in the nation on how the students are developing their language.
 
Bautista said he is excited to work with this school board and administration.
 
“The board is an outstanding board, very compassionate about education, very motivated and they want the best for that community,” he said. “After five years of work (in Woodburn), I have worked with every single principal in some capacity, so that’s an advantage.
 
“The disadvantage is they all know me,” he jokingly added.
 
Bautista left the Woodburn School District in 2007 to serve as an administrator for the Salem-Keizer School District, overseeing English language development and bilingual education in its 67 schools.
 
“(The superintendent of) Salem-Keizer School District began to look at the program (in Woodburn) and when she found out that I was the author of many initiatives … they contacted me about continuing the work for Salem-Keizer,” Bautista said. “When I came to Salem, I told her I’m going to give you three years because I’m interested in Woodburn. Whenever (current Superintendent) Walt (Blomberg) retires, I’m interested in applying.”
 
Bautista was born and raised in Guadalajara, Mexico, where he graduated from the University of Guadalajara. In 1979, he started to teach psychology classes at the university, later moving to the high school, where he would eventually become principal.
 
Twenty years ago, he followed some colleagues as part of an education project to the University of Arizona, where he received his master’s degree in multilingual education and completed doctoral studies in language learning culture.
 
“I did my written and oral exam but I haven’t finished my thesis,” he said. “Right now, it’s been so long that if I go back I’d have to do a lot of courses again.”
 
Helping students become bilingual and improving test scores on a state and federal level will be Bautista’s primary challenge as superintendent.
 
“It’s going to be extremely difficult to prove that kids are advancing,” he said. “We have the opportunity to provide evidence to the Woodburn community that the schools are doing a good job — they can do better — but we need ways to show the progress of language and the progress of content.”
 
Bautista said he identifies with a lot of the students because he still struggles with English at times. He didn’t learn the language until about 30 years ago, when he had to teach psychology based on books written in English.
 
“One of the things that I can identify (with) is … I’ve got my language but I cannot produce in English like I could in my language,” he said.
 
Another challenge will be dealing with the growth in the district.
 
“If you look around the schools, many have a considerable number of portables,” he said. “We’re becoming a portable district. To have the best school district in the nation, we need the best schools.”
 
Bautista said he is confident the school district is capable of greatness.
 
“All of the board, including myself, agrees we can have the best school district in the state and we can have the best district in the nation. We have the elements,” he said. “All of our work will have to be organized and concentrated to work together to achieve that dream.”
 
Bautista has two children attending high school at the Academy of International Studies (AIS) at Woodburn High School — Amanda, 17, is a senior and plays soccer and tennis and David, 15, is a sophomore who plays soccer. Both participate in the district’s International Baccalaureate program and stayed in the district to take advantage of the dual-language program even after their father moved to Salem. But he is moving back to Woodburn.
 
“That was part of the contract that I had to live in the community so that I am accessible to the community and I interact with the community,” he said. “David said, ‘Great, finally I’m going to walk to school.’”
 
Bautista has experience coaching various levels of soccer and will often be found on Saturdays playing with an adult indoor soccer league. But he also spends a great deal of his free time with his other passion — researching education studies.
 
“That’s something that we as central administrators have to keep an eye on,” he said. “It becomes fun. It’s something that we need to instill in our students, that they don’t read to read, they read to enjoy the reading. So for me it’s enjoying all the research that is coming.”
 
Bautista was selected after applicants from across the country applied and were selected by a screening committee of 27 Woodburn community and staff members, as well as parents.
 
“Ultimately, while not being a current superintendent, he was best matched for the position,” said school board member Eric Morris. “I think David Bautista is going to be a quiet, driven leader. He’s going to push really hard for a commitment of excellence in education. I feel he would be able to do that, not that other candidates couldn’t do that, but having been previously hired here, he knows what it’s about here more than anyone else. He’s going to do a good job.”
 
The application process started after Blomberg announced he would retire as of June 30. Bautista will take over July 1.
 
The board, according to a statement, was impressed with Bautista’s extensive background in curriculum and instruction, his commitment to strengthening the IB program and his vision for a world class K-12 educational program that connects students to the community and prepares them for future careers.
 
The school board will be hosting an informal reception for Bautista to meet with parents, staff and community members from 5 to 6:30 p.m. March 4 in the Woodburn High School commons.

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