Candidate for
County Superintendent of Schools; County of San Mateo

Dr. John W. Mehl

Candidate for the Office of San Mateo County Superintendent of Schools March 5th, 2002

Biographical Information

John W. Mehl was born in Glendale, California, in 1942. The son of an auto mechanic, John attended public school in Eagle Rock, a small town near Glendale. Although he always knew he wanted to be a teacher, John thought he would be teaching music, his first love. John entered Glendale Junior College in 1960 and went on to graduate from the University of Redlands with a Bachelor of Arts, and later a Masters Degree in Educational Administration. It was at Redlands that John met and married, Marcia Perry, also an education major. After graduation, John and Marcia took teaching positions in Rialto, near Redlands. 1971, John applied for and received a fellowship grant from the Charles Stewart Mott Foundation to pursue doctoral studies in education and the growing community education movement taking place in the country at that time. Upon hearing the happy news, the Mehls packed up their books and their two young daughters, Michelle and Heather, to move to Flint, Michigan where John spent the next two years earning a PhD in Education at Michigan State University. But the chilly Midwest was not where the two California natives wanted to settle, so in 1973, Dr. John Mehl accepted a position as Principal at Hatch Elementary School in Half Moon Bay and began a career in San Mateo County schools that was to span the next 29 years. At Hatch, Mehl was able to push to the forefront of new trends in education, establishing the first year-round elementary school in San Mateo County. A proactive administrator, Mehl secured a grant from the state of California to fund migrant student education and established a bilingual educational program. In 1976, Mehl was recruited to join the Cabrillo Unified School District Office as Director of Personnel, Assistant Superintendent, and then Interim Superintendent. In 1980, he accepted a position as Superintendent of Schools in the San Bruno Park Elementary School District. Eleven years later, in 1991, Dr. Floyd Gonella, Superintendent of San Mateo County Schools, recruited Mehl to join the County Office of Education as Associate Superintendent to direct all student services programs operated by the County Office of Education # a position Mehl holds to this day. Among the educational services Mehl oversees are the Special Education programs offered countywide to disabled students, the Regional Occupational Program that offers vocational training to high school students and adults of all ages, the Community School program that provides alternative educational opportunities to county middle school and high school students, and the Court School program that serves the youth in the juvenile justice system. As Assistant Superintendent, his duties also include oversight of matters related to school district organization throughout the county and service on many interagency committees and community organizations. During his tenure in the County Office of Education, Mehl has also served as an instructor of graduate level studies in Education Administration at San Francisco State University and the University of San Francisco. Carrying on the family tradition of public service in San Mateo County, Mehl's wife Marcia continues to teach in the Las Lomitas School District in Menlo Park. Daughter Michelle earned a BA degree from Santa Clara University to become a teacher and is currently a part-time Principal at the George Hall Elementary School in San Mateo. Daughter Heather earned a BS degree from Cal Poly State University and is currently working for the San Mateo County Department of Health.