HOLLISTER
Of four candidates, San Benito High School District’s trustees will select one as a temporary replacement for the vacated board position at a special meeting Tuesday.
Former Trustee Shelley Donati announced her resignation from the board in October. Since then, the other trustees have solicited applicants for a provisional appointment until her seat is up for election again in November 2008.
Four Hollister residents are vying for the seat: Rob Bernosky, Joe Gardner, Ray Rodriguez and Joseph Tonascia.
These candidates will give public interviews at Tuesday’s special board meeting, and trustees will decide that night who will replace Donati.
Applicant Rob Bernosky, who ran for the SBHS board in 2006, currently serves on the North County Joint Union School Board. He has one child who attends San Benito High School and two others at Spring Grove School. He said having children who attend or will be attending the high school could be a huge asset to the board.
“One of the negative things I think about San Benito is that not a single school board member has children in the system,” Bernosky said.
He said his primary focuses would be on “preparing the kids of San Benito for their future.” Particular focuses for him would be the federal No Child Left Behind Act and retaining teachers, he said.
Joe Gardner is also a parent of San Benito students – two current and one graduate. He also serves as president of the School Site Council. Although he left the teaching profession for the private sector – he had taught math at the high school for three years – he said he wanted to find an outlet for helping students.
“I just wanted to stay connected to the school, and the school board is a wonderful way to do that,” he said.
Gardner said there were some important issues coming up on the board’s horizon – including a possible second high school – to which he wanted to contribute.
“The school board is doing an excellent job – I just wanted to be a part of it,” he said.
Ray Rodriguez said he was running for the board because he believes he will bring something different to the table. The father of seven has four graduates of the high school, two currently enrolled and one on the way there. Rodriguez, who ran for the board previously as well, is a constant fixture at the board meetings. He said he would bring some balance if selected.
“If you look at the board right now, three out of four are past employees of the school board, so there’s no representation of the community at large,” he said. “And I don’t think, considering that 50 percent of the population is Hispanic, that there’s really enough representation there.”
Rodriguez said he believed there should be more than one board member – Mary Encinias – representing the Hispanic population.
A big focus for Rodriguez if he gets on the board will be on the student success rate and closing the achievement gap.
“I think that the school is just about at crisis,” he said.
The last applicant, Joseph Tonascia, could not be reached for an interview by press time. Tonascia also has students who attend San Benito High School. He is a coach with the Babe Ruth All-stars and a local farmer.
