The Hollister School District administration team faced uncharted territory at the start of the 2024-25 school year, with Kip Ward stepping into the Interim Superintendent role due to unexpected circumstances. Ward and the cabinet guided the district forward with many success stories this school year.
“The team really came together,” said Ward, who has 32 years of education experience in San Benito County, the past 26 with the Hollister School District. “It has been really inspiring to me—to see how caring all of them are.”
Ward is proud of the team’s accomplishments this school year. He noted some of the key achievements included:
• Major steps forward on system modernization and digitization, creating a more efficient and cost effective environment.
• More structured collaboration among departments, such as weekly meetings between the Special Education Department and Educational Services Department to better align initiatives for all student groups.
• Exiting from CSI and ATSI designations (required targeted supports based on student group performance) for 90% of district schools.
• Increased special education referral efficiency due to Multi-Tiered System of Support (MTSS) teams at every site to ensure students are getting necessary services.
• Enhanced, more structured communication with parents of students with special needs.
• Aggressive recruitment outreach leading to hiring 57 Certificated positions and 65 Classified positions, along with a substantial pool of Certificated substitute teachers.
• Construction of additional afterschool programming buildings, upgrades to various playgrounds, improvements to parking lots and a variety of other facility upgrades.
• Rollout of a 1-to-1 device distribution, meaning each student is assigned a specific chromebook they maintain from third through eighth grade.
• Initiation of a new security system that enhances student and staff safety.
• Implementation of the ARIES system to allow for online digital enrollment.
• Extra food serving lines with produce bars at all sites.
• Proactive planning to ensure no loss of approved outside funding.
Ward and Director of Educational Services Colleen Myers spoke more about departmental achievements.
System modernization has increased efficiency to areas like H.R., transfers, field trips, Business Department functions, registration, facility management and student technology.
“Prior to that,” Ward said of digitization efforts, “it was all done on paper.”
Myers said structured collaboration between the Ed Services and Special Education departments has been a shining example of progress.
“As we come together, we are now calibrating and aligning initiatives,” Myers said.
Those two departments hold fruitful meetings on Differentiated Assistance, another area of progress where the district now shows 90% of schools out of this designation and a continued focal point heading into 2025-26.
“This establishes equitable services for all students,” Myers said.
A reduction in Special Education referrals underscores another improvement area. Educators focus on positive reinforcement, setting clear expectations and addressing behavioral issues to intervene at an earlier stage.
Therefore, students get more appropriate services to address academic, behavioral and social-emotional needs. This enhances learning environments, equips teachers to better respond to behaviors and results in a reduction in the need for special education testing, the administrators said.
Ward underscored Director of Special Education Dr. Gabriel Gutierrez’s expanded communication with SPED families—including regular meetings with parent groups—as another positive step forward. This increased engagement gives parents opportunities to share feedback one on one.
“I know for Gabe and his team, it’s been a year of really focusing on communication with parents of students with special needs,” Ward said. “They have worked really hard this year to communicate and collaborate with parents.”
It always helps to have a strong hiring foundation as shown in the recruitment data. Ward credited Director of Human Resources Linda Villalon and her team, while recognizing Kate Zarubi and Marissa Valadez for their outreach efforts and expanded attendance at recruitment fairs.
Newly recruited HSD staff members are entering a modernized environment as evidenced by widespread use of chromebooks coordinated by Director of I.T. Branden Johnson. As for other tech enhancements, Myers pointed to the ARIES system and noted how families moving from out of the area can now register remotely.
“It’s a more efficient way of enrolling our students,” she said.
Those students, of course, need and get good nutrition to maximize learning. Meanwhile, more than 95% of Student Nutrition staff members are Servsafe Certified, meaning they are essentially food safety managers.
Director of Student Nutrition Ann Pennington has raised the bar before she retires after 2024-25.
“Director Ann Pennington will be missed by all, and we wish her nothing but the best in retirement,” Ward said.
Facilities as a whole, meanwhile, have experienced vast improvements under Director of Facilities Aaron Buzzetta’s management this past year. They include the previously mentioned upgrades along with other improvements like roof repairs and a slew of beautification efforts.
Chief Business Officer Elizabeth Wilson plays a part in all these endeavors while coordinating the budget. She enjoys working with the team to fit available resources to the wide variety of district needs. She underscored planning ahead with use of pandemic funds and other outside dollars to avoid losing resources.
As a whole, she takes a conservative approach to budgeting because it’s always more challenging to take money out if unanticipated changes happen.
“We keep the board abreast of everything that’s going on. The board has been embracing those conversations,” she said.
Ward said he is extremely grateful for the opportunity to lead the district administration team that continually makes decisions in students’ best interests.
“They’re just excellent people who care about kids,” Ward said.
