If first impressions are true, then the San Benito High School
Board of Trustees has picked a winner in new Superintendent Jean
Burns Slater, PhD.
Slater exudes enthusiasm and energy, even in a long-distance
telephone conversation. She articulates ideas clearly and
concisely, which is why she has a reputation among her peers in the
San Rafael City School District as an effective communicator.
If first impressions are true, then the San Benito High School Board of Trustees has picked a winner in new Superintendent Jean Burns Slater, PhD.
Slater exudes enthusiasm and energy, even in a long-distance telephone conversation. She articulates ideas clearly and concisely, which is why she has a reputation among her peers in the San Rafael City School District as an effective communicator.
In a nutshell, she’s everything the school board has needed as it has struggled over the past year with parents frustrated by a strict zero tolerance policy and teachers who have felt left out of decision-making processes.
“When you give respect and treat people with integrity, then you get that back,” she said in a Pinnacle interview.
In her current position as associate superintendent for secondary education, she has tackled curriculum and testing issues, which should serve the local high school well in meeting state standards. As a principal in San Luis Obispo, she oversaw a $10 million campus renovation, experience that will help during construction of the school’s new freshman campus. The campuses she supervises are the most ethnically diverse in Marin County. It’s hard to find anyone there to say anything negative about her.
Slater, 53, is an outdoor enthusiast who has developed an appreciation of San Benito County during camping trips to Pinnacles National Monument. She was reared in a rural area east of San Diego County, raised sheep for 4-H and appreciates the importance of agricultural education.
Most important it’s not just a step up for her. She visited Hollister and fell in love with the city, its people and its small-town charm – before she even knew she would get an interview. She left hoping she would at least be considered.
On paper and in introductions, she looks like the total package to replace Dick Lowry, who has 30 years experience and has overseen the school’s population explosion during the 1990s.
Lowry, who leaves Feb. 7, has earned his new life on the ski slopes of the Sierras. Slater seems like the right candidate to lead the school into the future.
