Hollister School District trustee Dee Brown announced late
Friday that she will run for San Benito County superintendent of
schools, filing papers just before the 5pm deadline.
Hollister – Hollister School District trustee Dee Brown announced late Friday that she will run for San Benito County superintendent of schools, filing papers just before the 5pm deadline.
Foley, 58, announced in early February that he would seek a fourth term as county superintendent, even after 10 years in the position that pays 129,000 a year. Brown, 61, poses the first competition for Foley since the countywide election in 1998, after he completed Dick Lowry’s term. Lowry left his position with the San Benito County Office of Education to serve as superintendent for San Benito High School, and Foley was appointed to take over by virtue of his work as an administrator of Pinnacles Opportunity School.
“I was a little surprised,” said Foley of Brown’s decision to run against him. “We’d had no indication that there was a disagreement with how the county office was being run.”
Brown maintains that her decision is motivated primarily by a desire to see the education community “think outside the box,” more than any particular beef with Foley himself.
“I think Tim has done a lot of good work for the community,” Brown said. “And there are lots of people at the county office who are doing wonderful things, but I think a change in leadership is always invigorating.”
If elected, Brown hopes to use her roughly 40 years experience in education to focus on establishing the County Office of Education as a resource for school districts that can’t accomplish their goals on their own.
“The county should help do what the districts can’t do for themselves, whether it’s a large district like Hollister or a smaller one,” she said. “I want there to be a constant flow of information about advocacy for our students. There’s a lot of good things going on that no one knows about.”
Brown said she would like to see more countywide student art and music celebrations and a county educational foundation to supplement schools with small booster clubs. She also said she hopes the county office would take on a larger role in assisting the community’s gang task force.
This June’s election will determine whether or not Brown will seek a third four-year term on the HSD school board, which expires in December. The county superintendent, who oversees 26 schools and about 11,600 students, would begin a new term in January.
Though excited about running, Brown admits that facing a longtime incumbent will be a challenge.
“I think when anyone’s been in the same job for a long enough time, it’s good to have a little challenge or competition. If nothing else, Tim can go to the public and talk about what he’s done, and that will be healthy,” she said.
