In San Benito County, 30 school district board of education trustee positions and three positions with the county office of education will be up for grabs this year in elections.
At the county level, two of five board of education positions and the position of county superintendent will be up for grabs in the June 3 statewide primary election. The Nov. 4 general election will bring additional openings for school board trustees at the district level, including two of five positions on the board of the Aromas-San Juan Unified School District and three of five trustee positions each in the Hollister School District and the San Benito High School District.
School board terms at the county and district level are generally staggered so that about half of the positions come due for re-election every two years – in this case in 2014 and 2016 – so that there is always some continuity with the school board, explained Kathy Stewart, the San Benito County Office of Education executive administrative assistant.
Perhaps the biggest surprise is that the county superintendent, Mike Sanchez, has announced his retirement and did not qualify himself for the ballot.
“On Nov. 4, I’m completing a 40-year career (in education) and it’s time to spend more time with family,” said Sanchez. “Not many people get the pleasure of saying they put in 40 years … Reality is, it’s time to have a better schedule with my family and have more time with my family.”
San Benito High School Principal Krystal Lomanto is the only candidate for county superintendent on the June ballot. Retired educator Ruben Lopez briefly considered running as a write-in candidate before discovering there was a narrow window of time in which he could register as such a candidate and the likelihood he would get enough write-ins to win was slim, he said.
“I was concerned that there was not competition and I feel that an elected office should have public competition, so the public knows what they are all about,” said Lopez, as he reflected on why he considered a write-in candidacy.
The other two positions that will open at the county level are those of board of education members for Districts 3 and 4. Joan Campbell-Garcia and Mitchell Dabo are running for these positions as incumbents, and no challengers have stepped forward to run against them.
Hollister School District:
Within the district, the seats of Trustees Patricia Moore, Lupe Navarro and Elsa Rodriguez will be up for grabs while Trustee Ben Flores and President Elizabeth Martinez have terms that won’t expire until 2016.
At this point, Navarro is planning to run for re-election, according to an email sent Tuesday. Rodriguez could not be reached before deadline. Moore is putting another term as trustee “in serious consideration,” but had not made her final decision by deadline.
“It’s a big-time commitment, plus a significant learning curve, even if you have been a part of the school district or the school system in the past,” said Moore. “It’s a whole lot more time than I had anticipated, but since I’m retired I can handle it.”
Moore estimates she spends at least 20 hours a week preparing for school board meetings, making site visits, doing reading so that she is up to date on education issues and attending school board meetings that sometimes stretch to be about five hours long.
At the last regular school board meeting April 22, the school board trustees authorized that the election of district trustees to be consolidated with the Nov. 4 state election, a common practice among school districts, as it allows them to avoid paying the costs of a special election.
Trustees also authorized any ties between candidates to be determined by lot instead of a run-off election and agreed not to pay the printing costs of candidate statements included on the sample ballot, as these actions would go against board bylaws.
San Benito High School District:
Within the district, the positions of Trustees William Tiffany, Mary Encinias and Steve Delay will expire this year. Delay is planning to run for re-election, according to an email. Encinias and Tiffany could not be reached for comment by deadline.
The terms of Board President Evelyn Muro and Board Member and Clerk Ray Rodriguez continue through 2016.
Aromas-San Juan Unified School District:
In Aromas-San Juan, the terms of Trustees Magdalena Medina and Jeff Hancock expire this year. Medina is not planning to run for re-election, according to an email she sent last Friday. Hancock could not be reached for comment by deadline.
The positions of President Jennifer Colby and Trustees Jose Flores and Monica Martinez-Guaracha continue through 2016.
