Hollister
– Longtime principal Mike Sanchez is leaving San Andreas
Continuation High School and Pinnacles Community School, but he’s
not going very far.
Hollister – Longtime principal Mike Sanchez is leaving San Andreas Continuation High School and Pinnacles Community School, but he’s not going very far.
Sanchez was recently promoted to assistant superintendent for alternative education and support services, a new position with the San Benito County Office of Education. Sanchez said he’ll still be in charge of alternative education, but the new job will allow him to step back from day-to-day administration and instead take charge of several new initiatives.
Asked if it’s difficult to leave a job he has held for more than 20 years, Sanchez said: “It’s going to be different. I’m excited about the additional programs.”
Sanchez has built a reputation as a leader and mentor at the alternative education schools. Hollister School District Trustee Beatrice Gonzales-Ramirez attended San Andreas, and she said Sanchez and the rest of the staff helped turn her life around.
“If he is leaving (San Andreas), he’s going to be sorely missed,” said Gonzales-Ramirez, who hadn’t heard details of the change when reached.
The office of education is looking for a new San Andreas and Pinnacles principal, Sanchez said.
Sanchez’s new duties include plans to address truancy issues and increase support for students taking the California High School Exit Exam. His first initiative will likely be creating a new school attendance review board, he said.
The new assistant superintendent position has been in the works for several months and was approved by the Board of Education in June, Superintendent Tim Foley said.
“As the programs in the county evolved, we just naturally recognized new opportunities,” Foley said.
And when it comes to alternative education in San Benito County, Sanchez was the obvious choice, he added.
“He wrote the book on it,” Foley said.
Board President Joan Campbell-Garcia praised Foley for “looking to the future” by creating the new position.
“We know Mike’s reputation,” she said.
Foley, who spoke to the Free Lance from his home Monday evening, said he did not have Sanchez’s new salary on hand.
