Q&A: Los Gatos Union School District Superintendent Diana Abbati

Longtime educator Diana Abbati has been serving as superintendent of the since July 6, a little more than four months. She presides over the 3,000-plus-student organization that includes four elementary schools and one middle school.

In the fall 2011 newsletter for the district, Abbati writes about the organization quickly approaching its 150th anniversary and how she's

The district last updated the document in 2001.

Abbati has also begun discussions with district trustees on how to use Measure E money, particularly in light of the need to build a new , which could rise if more geological testing of the site is necessary, according to district officials.

Los Gatos Patch: How do you feel about being the leader of the Los Gatos Union School District?

Abbati: Los Gatos is amazing. It's an incredible place with a wonderful group of administrators and principals to work with. I really have enjoyed getting to know the community and being part of the and the Town Council. It's been a very welcoming community. This is my 120th day (interview conducted Nov. 9).

Patch: Tell us a little about yourself?

Abbati: I live in San Francisco. I didn't enter education in the traditional way. I'm originally from New York and found my way down to UCLA and started my career in accounting there. It was 15 years before I decided to become an educator. That's where my MBA and accounting background came into play. I moved into elementary teaching mid-year at Ross Elementary School District and loved it. I was then a middle school teacher. Then I became a principal and also a special education director. Then I moved down to the Peninsula for a principal position and became superintendent/principal of Woodside Elementary School District. I was approached to come look at this school district and could not say no after I met the board.

Patch: Are you married? Do you have children?

Abbati: I'm married, but have no children, just two dogs.

Patch: What has been your biggest challenge so far?

Abbati: Being new to a community is challenging and trying to understand some of the cultures and the traditions ... I'm not sure I've had many challenges. I'm still getting to know everyone. I haven't really approached them yet. I'm still getting to know the community.

Patch: What are your strengths?

Abbati: My background in business and education. I'm very passionate about educating everyone and the whole child. I have a special education and math background. I also have an elementary and a middle-school background and I have an MBA. I bring the business side to the educational side. My passion is to differentiate instruction to make sure everyone has equal access. The whole equity part of being an educator, I'm very passionate about that.

Patch: What are your immediate goals?

Abbati: My mission statement is to do great things for students. I want to move the students in this district into the 21st century and we're off to a great start here in Los Gatos, but we can move the district from good to great and I look forward to continuing to do that here.

Patch: Is the perception that the LGUSD is excellent accurate?

Abbati: We have great schools, but there's always room for improvement. We can always look at some of our sub-groups and make sure we're addressing everyone's needs. I do believe we're growing ... that's a challenge as far as facilities. I'm looking forward to seeing how we'll continue to grow and maintain the excellent schools that we have.

Patch: How's your support team helping you?

Abbati: I have a great group of people helping me. Leslie Paulides as our chief business superintendent, is helping us out along the way.

Patch: How are the state education budget cuts affecting the district?

Abbati: What's happening in the state of California is really hard for a public educator. Even in Los Gatos, we feel some of the pain coming from state and the triggers being pulled. We always continually have to monitor to make sure that we can deliver the same excellent program that we did in the past with a lot less money. It's a huge challenge and it's getting missed sometimes in the community with our issues over capacity at But that's something that we certainly, as a district team, need to look at as we move forward to continue to deliver programs like technology, foreign language and an incredible middle-school program with electives.

Patch: What's the latest development over the Lexington Elementary School building issue?

Abbati: We're moving ahead with trying to do some of the necessary work to get California Geological Survey approval. We told the board and the community during the Oct. 18 meeting that we would update them every step of the way and we have no new information up to date. We hope to have more information on Dec. 6 board meeting and we're looking forward to breaking ground next June if we can get CGS approval.

Patch: How critical is the need to build a new school in the district?

Abbati: There's a lot of confusion around the words capacity, overcrowding, enrollment and student-generation rates. I believe that Lexington is a wonderful community and there's been a lot of investment into building that school for the community up in the mountain area. It would be lovely to get approval and to build that site and it has potential for growth if we can build it there. We need to look seriously at our demographic studies to see where we're going to put other students and our student-generation rates. We're trying to do that right now and every day and that's why we're going into the , our next 10 years looking at all of that.

Patch: What is the ultimate goal for the 'Imagine' meetings?

Abbati: The master plan is more than a master plan. It's a backdrop for strategic planning along the way. We're going out to these meetings to find out what this community values. We're going to learn a lot from that before we start the study.