San Benito High School Principal Todd Dearden resigned Wednesday morning, district Board President Ray Rodriguez confirmed.
Dearden was placed on paid administrative leave in November pending an ongoing investigation. Adrian Ramirez, who was an assistant principal on campus before Dearden’s leave, is now the school’s interim leader.
“I would like to say I have confidence in Adrian Ramirez as the interim and the rest of the assistant principals at the site,” Rodriguez said.
It was not yet solidified whether the district would hire a new assistant principal to replace Ramirez for the rest of this school year, Rodriguez said.
Ramirez was going to remain the interim leader while the administration and board discuss this and essentially begin the search process, the board president said.
“Whatever the search process is depends on what it produces,” Rodriguez said. “If we can get a quality candidate, we’ll engage them as soon as we can.”
Dearden made $132,667 in annual salary and was being paid $603.03 per day he was on paid administrative leave, according to records obtained from the director of human resources through a Freedom of Information Act request.
In 2014, trustees unanimously selected Dearden as the replacement for former Principal Krystal Lomanto after she pursued and obtained the elected county superintendent job.
