Now the top administrator for a K-12 school district in California, a former superintendent of Aptakisic-Tripp School District 102 oversees 18 buildings and an annual budget that totals around $225 million at Palo Alto Unified School District.
But those responsibilities don’t compare to the difficulties he encountered during his first year as the District 102 superintendent in Buffalo Grove, said Max McGee, 66, who worked to expand District 102 after starting as superintendent in 1986 — a role he worked until 1991.
Currently, District 102 officials are deciding how to accommodate a student enrollment projected to grow in the coming years. Like McGee, first-year Superintendent Lori Wilcox and her staff is exploring whether to renovate and add to the district’s buildings.
“At the time, we called it ‘explosive growth,'” McGee said.
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In 1986, McGee led the push for a voter referendum to construct what is now called Tripp Elementary and fund other building additions at District 102.
McGee went on to serve as the state superintendent in Illinois and opened a private school in New Jersey before landing in Palo Alto. From his office near Stanford University, he recalled organizing bake sales and other efforts to raise money during the push to pass the referendum at District 102.
Q: Several crucial factors have changed since 1986, but one factor never will — parents want great schools for cheap. You got them to agree to pay more. Do you have advice for Wilcox and the District 102 Board today?
A: First all, good for her and I wish her the best. One thing I learned is the importance of extensive community engagement. Spend time out in the community, in people’s homes. We did a lot in people’s homes. Just yesterday, I had a meeting with a dozen Chinese families in someone’s home. You can’t do enough of that. It’s one thing to have an open door, but it’s another thing to walk through it.
The other idea is fostering a shared vision around the primary mission of the campaign. … You’re asking people to finance construction projects which, in most instances, will not benefit their own kids. We did that by starting with a “why” statement, “Why is this important for the community?” That resonated. And we couldn’t spend any tax dollars on the campaign. So, honest to God, we had bake sales, fashion shows.
Q: The buzzwords right now are “grit” and “resilience.” What is it like trying to work what used to be called “parenting” into public education?
A: That is a terrific question. We actually wrote that into our mission statement, which is kind of long, but we want to nurture resilience. We’ve been successful if your kids leave with the curiosity and creativity they had in kindergarten. My job is not to get your kids into Stanford, it’s to get them into careers that don’t exist. I say that to parents, and the air gets sucked out of the room.
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