2012: Floyd “Doc” Buchanan addresses the crowd during the dedication ceremony for the statue in his honor at Buchanan High School ERIC PAUL ZAMORA ezamora@fresnobee.com
BY BARBARA ANDERSON AND JOHN ELLIS – fresnobee.com
Floyd “Doc” Buchanan, legendary founding superintendent of Clovis Unified School District, has died. He was 91.
No one had a bigger impact on education in San Joaquin Valley than Mr. Buchanan, who molded Clovis into a premier school system.
He was superintendent of the district for 31 years, starting when small districts unified and he was elected on a 4-3 split vote on May 13, 1960. He had been the superintendent of the Jefferson Elementary School District, one of seven absorbed into the new Clovis district, for three years before that.
The Buchanan Educational Center in Clovis, which includes Buchanan High School, was named after him. In June 2012, a statue of Mr. Buchanan was unveiled at Buchanan High School.
“He was the driving force in the formation of Clovis Unified and uniting all those school districts together into one unified school district,” said Michael Prandini, a former Clovis city clerk and finance director and, since August 2004, president and chief executive officer of the Building Industry Association of Fresno/Madera Counties. “That’s a major accomplishment.”
Prandini’s own family was caught up in the change. Before unification, his family lived in the Clovis High School district, and his three older brothers graduated from Clovis High in the 1950s. But after unification, they found their home in Fresno Unified, and Prandini went through the Fresno school system.
As the district succeeded, so did the land within its boundaries. Prandini started with the city of Clovis in 1971, and worked there as the city went from a small country town to a suburban powerhouse. Much of that growth was driven by families who wanted their children in Clovis Unified schools.
“A big part of the growth of Clovis and north Fresno was a result of Doc Buchanan’s efforts to improve and make the schools improve and excel every year,” Prandini said. “That was a major factor in the growth of Clovis and north Fresno.”
It’s something that continues today.
“It does attract the people to the area, because they have such fine facilities and outreach, and that was started with Doc,” he said.
Mr. Buchanan survived recall elections and labor battles with the teacher’s union during the district’s infancy to drive Clovis Unified’s tremendous growth.
Former Clovis Mayor Harry Armstrong said Mr. Buchanan was always looking ahead, not behind.
“He was an individual with a vision, and he cared about the community and the kids,” Armstrong said. “He was very influential when it came to education in Clovis.”
HE WAS AN INDIVIDUAL WITH A VISION, AND HE CARED ABOUT THE COMMUNITY AND THE KIDS.
Former Clovis Mayor Harry Armstrong
Mr. Buchanan also helped shape growth in Clovis, he said. People wanted their children to go to Clovis schools: “That really gave us a big shot in the arm in Clovis.”
And now, he said, “if you look around where they placed the schools, you could see he had a vision and pretty much had an idea where the growth was going to go.”
Clovis City Council Member Lynne Ashbeck said news of Mr. Buchanan’s death “brought a tear to my eye.”
Mr. Buchanan “was a remarkable soul,” she said. “There are few people who have shaped a community in ways that he shaped Clovis.”
“Much of what we are today, we can trace back to him.”
Some of Mr. Buchanan’s methods were controversial, such as intense competition in academics and athletics, but the public embraced them.
Former Fresno County Schools Superintendent Larry Powell said Mr. Buchanan had a clear vision, hired the best people to implement it, and then got out the way. At the same time, Powell said, those not on board with the vision usually had a choice: change their way of thinking or move on.
Powell said Mr. Buchanan’s focus on mind, body and spirit changed the approach to education in the Valley. Spirit for the soul, body for athletics and mind for academics. It appealed to baby boomers looking to give their children the best chance at success.
“He knew what would impact people,” Powell said. “You put those together, and you’ve got Doc Buchanan.”
Some excerpts from “Doc’s Charge,” the letter given to all teachers who are hired in the district:
“Our philosophy is simple. A fair break for every kid.”
“We believe in high standards in Clovis schools. We believe competition is an ingredient of high standards and an important motivational tool. We recognize three levels of competition. First, we want you to make sure that all of our students learn to compete against themselves; that’s the toughest competition of all. Second, we want you to encourage our students to compete in specialty areas to help them build on their strengths and overcome their weaknesses, because that’s the way they get jobs and that’s the way they have to perform in life. Third, we want you to teach our students to work in groups and to compete in groups, because we think that students who can’t work in groups are going to have trouble in tomorrow’s world.”
Mr. Buchanan’s other stroke of genius, Powell said, was opening school campuses to the public. It was a move that gave Clovis Unified community support. Before, he said, “you had to beg” to get onto school grounds. But Clovis Unified opened fields to youth soccer and other sports, and opened the swimming pool at Clovis West High to clubs outside the district.
Mr. Buchanan recognized the need to balance academics with athletics and other activities, Bullard football coach Donnie Arax said.
“Doc was brilliant, but the essence of his message was simple: Build facilities, great activities, great athletics and people will come, you will keep your good kids,” Arax said. “It was not that complicated of a formula. He didn’t call it extra-curricular, he called it co-curricular because, to him, athletics and activities were not extra; they were part of the educational experience.”
When Powell took over as Central Unified superintendent – his job before becoming Fresno County schools superintendent – he emulated Mr. Buchanan’s approach in Clovis with Central’s four pillars: academics, athletics, arts and agriculture.
It was a vision that Mr. Buchanan personally helped shape.
“Doc didn’t hide what he had,” Powell said. “He was willing to share his recipe for success with anybody and everybody.”
When Powell later became Fresno County schools superintendent, Mr. Buchanan again offered up advice, and Powell said he was an eager student.
“I glommed everything I could off him,” Powell said.
Mr. Buchanan retired as superintendent in 1991 after the school board rejected his contract renewal on a 5-2 vote.
This story will be updated.
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