Foley, appointed in 1996 and reelected in 1998, 2002 and 2006,
cited a decision to spend more time with family and a desire to be
involved in various special projects. Retiring in 2009 gives him an
even 40-year career in education, as he started in 1969.
HOLLISTER
Tim Foley has announced he will retire as the San Benito County Office of Education superintendent of schools as of Jan. 5.
“At some point you just have to say, ‘It’s someone else’s turn,'” Foley told the Free Lance on Monday.
The San Benito County Board of Education will appoint a successor in a yet-to-be-determined process as local educators think about a district without the long-serving superintendent.
Foley, appointed in 1996 and reelected in 1998, 2002 and 2006, cited a decision to spend more time with family and a desire to be involved in various special projects. Retiring in 2009 gives him an even 40-year career in education, as he started in 1969.
Foley went on a leave of absence in 2007 from mid-October to early December after successfully fighting what his doctors described as a “small but aggressive ” group of cancer cells in his prostate. He confirmed that the experience with cancer, along with what he called “a bit of a scare with a heart condition,” got him thinking about retiring while he is healthy. It will allow he and his wife to concentrate on their many interests, he said.
Foley was appointed as superintendent two years into the term of Dick Lowry, who left to become the superintendent of San Benito High School District and has since retired.
The process of selecting a candidate to be appointed as interim superintendent before an election year has not been settled, but Foley said he’s not concerned.
“The timing works out so the board can do a thorough process of proper selection,” he said.
Foley has been busy over the last 12 years, but the last four in particular have seen him striving to keep both the Hollister and Aromas/San Juan school districts financially sound.
“He has been so supportive of our budget issues,” said Jacquelyn Muñoz, superintendent of the Aromas/San Juan School District. “He worked very closely with us to assure that we would become solvent, and he was always, always my first call whenever anything came up.”
Muñoz noted that she was happy Foley would have more time with family, but that her district would miss the wonderful service he provides and the extensive support he has demonstrated.
Ron Crates, superintendent of the Hollister School District, echoed these sentiments, adding that Foley has been responsible for countless successes throughout the county.
He provided one example in particular.
“Oh there have been so many, it is hard to pick one out, but recently he took care of some special education matters. He made sure that the doors of these centers stayed open by getting the district properly reimbursed.”
You might think Foley plans to relax and do little during retirement, but a partial list of his interests and activities show he likely will remain active.
“My wife and I raise heritage livestock and heirloom fruit, and we are very active in the sustainable agricultural movement and are looking forward to being even more involved.”
Foley also serves on the Resource Conservation District and the advisory committee to the general plan update for San Benito County, and he’s on the board of the Y.M.C.A. and he’s president of the United States Lipizzaner Stallion Association.
Foley said he will miss the job.
“I met with county and city officials recently to discuss community gang interventions, and I was getting excited at some of what we would be doing,” he said. “Then I got a shock of reality as it occurred to me that someone else would be putting these programs into place, not me.”
Foley went on to say he’s proud of everything his “team” has accomplished during his 16 years as superintendent and that he knows this is the right time to step aside.
