San Benito High School District’s new Superintendent John Perales is only three weeks on the job. He already routinely walks the halls of his new site to see how things roll in more than 40 classrooms as he sets a vision for the coming year.
“I think some of the concerns are our facilities,” he said. “The facilities – with 3,000 students – definitely need some attention.”
His goals for the district include helping graduating seniors see more options for post-high school life, preparing students to tackle new standardized tests and upgrading campus facilities that – at the moment – mostly lack air conditioning.
Perales explained that a facilities bond will appear before voters this June. The $42.5 million measure aimed at upgrading classrooms and other facilities at San Benito High School passed its final hurdle earlier this month and will appear as Measure G on the June 3 primary ballot.
Perales’ new position places him at the helm of a two high-school district, which includes the comprehensive San Benito High School and San Andreas Continuation High School.
He commutes to Hollister from Gilroy. There, he was the founding principal of Gilroy Unified School District’s Christopher High School and then spent nine months as the district’s human resources director of certificated personnel. Perales began his new position in Hollister at the start of this month.
The SBHS District Board of Education unanimously voted to appoint Perales as superintendent March 6. To accept the new position, Perales had to leave the Gilroy community where he attended high school and community college before spending 17 years in the district as a teacher, coach and principal. He’s operating on the same mantra he had in Gilroy of, “The door is always open – come on in.”
High on Perales’ list of goals for the next year is preparing graduating seniors for a world beyond high school, whether that‘s a four-year degree, the military or a trade school, he said.
“One of the things that we definitely want to focus on is making sure students – when they reach their senior year – have options,” he said.
He also wants to see students excel as they take on the first Smarter Balanced Assessments, which is replacing the California Standards Tests (CSTs) starting this spring as the way to analyze the effectiveness of the new Common Core State Standards. While this year’s tests will be just practice, next year’s exams will count, he explained.
“We’re judged and we’re measured by how our students do on that test … so we want to do the best,” he said.
On a personal level, Perales is glad his new district office is back on a school campus. While the GUSD office was separate from students, his new office is on campus at SBHS.
“I’m enjoying being back on a campus near the students. Being a principal for so long – and a teacher and a coach – it’s hard when you remove yourself from the students. That takes a while to get used to,” he said.
At SBHS, he sees students every day as they go to brunch, switch classes or visit the front office.
“I think as a superintendent, it really grounds your work,” he said.
For more: The next regularly scheduled San Benito High School District board meeting is set for 7 p.m. Wednesday in the Davis Library at San Benito High School on 1220 Monterey St.
