With just a few days before the filing deadline, school board
races for San Benito County’s rural school districts are shaping
up, with a lot of familiar names pulling papers, and a few
surprises.
With just a few days before the filing deadline, school board races for San Benito County’s rural school districts are shaping up, with a lot of familiar names pulling papers, and a few surprises.
Two seats are open on the Aromas/San Juan Unified School District school board this year – those of Board President John Ferreira and Clerk Jeff Hancock. While neither were available for comment Tuesday, Hancock has filed papers announcing his intent to run again this year.
Former San Juan Bautista Mayor and City Councilman Robert Quaid also pulled papers to run for a spot on the board, but was unavailable for comment.
In June voters shot down a $24 million bond measure that would have funded more than a dozen projects for the district, including a new cafeteria and auditorium for Anzar High School students, a new preschool building for San Juan School, and a near complete reconstruction of Aromas School, including a new library and media center.
More than half of the seats on the Jefferson School District, the one-school district in Paicines, are open this year – Vice President Jeanie Garbini, Clerk David Reikowski, and Trustee Rafael Miramontes are all up for re-election, and all three have pulled papers. No challengers have pulled papers at this time.
Two of North County School District’s positions are up for grabs this November, those of Trustees Rebecca Doty and Krystal Lomanto. Also two challengers, Christine Cabrera and Michael Castello, have pulled papers. Neither they nor Doty were available Tuesday but Lomanto indicated that she was still undecided.
“I know the deadline is coming up in a few days,” she said. “But I’m still weighing my options. I have to sit down with my husband and really discuss this, because of the time factor with my job at the high school. I love it and I love Spring Grove, so we’ll have to see.”
Currently Lomanto serves as an assistant principal at San Benito High School, where she has worked in that capacity and as a teacher for a number of years.
North County, which serves students from San Benito and Santa Clara counties at Spring Grove School, passed the $3 million bond measure M, which will fund a number of construction and modernization projects in 2007. Spring Grove also recently welcomed Evelyn Muro, who is a trustee at SBHS, to serve as principal and superintendent after Howard Chase stepped down at the end of the school year.
Two of the three trustee positions on Panoche School’s Board of Trustees are up for re-election this fall, those of President Gardiner Hammond and Vice President Charles McCullough, and both have filed papers. No challengers have filed papers so far.
At Southside School three of the five trustees will be running for re-election this year: President Scott Gilbert; Clerk Jeanne Liem, who was provisionally appointed in 2005; and Trustee Bill Tiffany. All have pulled papers, in addition to challenger Susan Modic, who was unavailable Tuesday.
Any interested citizens are encouraged to run for school board positions. Prospective candidates can pick up the necessary paperwork at the office of elections at the corner of Fifth and Monterey streets and file on or before Aug. 11.
Danielle Smith covers education for the Free Lance. Reach her at 637-5566, ext. 336 or ds****@fr***********.com.
