After serving seven years on San Benito High School District’s
board, Trustee Shelley Donati announced Wednesday night that she is
resigning.
Hollister – After serving seven years on San Benito High School District’s board, Trustee Shelley Donati announced Wednesday night that she is resigning.
Donati is leaving a year before her term is up because she got a new job in Phoenix, where she will take a position as regional director for Kaplan Higher Education. Her resignation is effective Monday.
“It was a good decision for me career-wise, but obviously it would have been better had it not been in the middle of my term,” Donati said.
At Wednesday’s Board of Trustees meeting, where Donati announced her resignation, the district’s administrators and trustees celebrated her many years of service.
“I do think it’s appropriate that after seven years that we thank Shelley and send her off,” Superintendent Stan Rose said.
A replacement will be appointed by the rest of the board in the next couple of months, officials said.
A graduate of San Benito High School who grew up in Hollister, Donati said she had run for trustee to “bring a fresh perspective” to the board.
She said she won’t immediately be running for any school boards or committees, but because her career is in education, she’ll continue to be involved with the schools in many other ways.
Donati said that although she didn’t feel her service in San Benito County had been complete, she was proud of many changes she had brought to the district during her tenure, including the abandonment of the “zero-tolerance” policy and the establishment of student support teams.
“What we have accomplished is really being more student centered and looking at what the comprehensive needs of our students are, not just in terms of academic but the whole person,” Donati said.
She said she was confident that the board would continue in this direction after her departure.
“I know that everyone on the board is focused on our students, and that’s the most important thing,” Donati said.
Following Donati’s resignation, the board will appoint a new trustee to fill her place until the November 2008 election, when her term is up. The position will be open to any registered district resident, and the interview and deliberation process will be done at a public meeting.
County Superintendent Tim Foley, who had worked with Donati at the district office, said the loss for San Benito County would be a gain for Arizona.
“I know her to be very conscientious and sharp and somebody that gets the job done,” Foley said.
In moving on from her post, Donati said she would miss graduation the most. She said this is the “most rewarding piece” of education – watching students complete that stage of the learning process and move on.
Donati said while she is excited to move on, she will miss the county and her role as a trustee.
“It’s a little bittersweet, but I’m excited,” Donati said. “In education, you never get to the point where you feel like you’ve accomplished everything.”
