San Benito High School District fills trustee vacancy

Lea este articulo en español aquí.

On Dec. 13, the San Benito High School District board of trustees selected Maria Eugenia “Gina” Vallejo Agredano to fill the seat in Trustee Area 5 vacated by John Corrigan, who resigned effective Nov. 15. 

Joe Frisco, owner of Frisco Paint Company in Hollister, and David Burke, a retired administrator for North Monterey County School District and principal for San Andreas High School, also vied for the seat. All candidates met the eligibility qualifications stated in the application packet, which were to be a U.S. citizen, residing within the San Benito High School District Trustee Area 5, at least 18 years old and a registered voter.

At the Dec. 13 meeting, each candidate was asked the same six questions focusing on governance, board relations and community engagement by the Board of Trustees. The questions were selected by an ad hoc committee consisting of trustees Patty Nehme and Miguel Sahagun. Superintendent Shawn Tennenbaum told BenitoLink the questions came from the California School Boards Association (CSBA), and “the process, throughout, followed CSBA’s best practices of selecting a provisional board candidate.”  

Agredano said she is a 1989 graduate of San Benito High School, now Hollister High School, and has been a family practice physician for the past 14 years at the Alisal Health Center in Salinas.  

Asked by Nehme what her primary role would be if chosen as a trustee, Agredano said it would be as part of the governing board. 

“And that brings in lots of things that you have to think about: planning, curriculum, working together, communication, bringing in new ideas, and listening,” she said. 

“How do I do that in other places? Be receptive to people in the community, answer questions, be honest, give them that time to answer, that time to ask. And then ask them, what is important to them? What is it that they want to see?”

In a news release, Tennenbaum said, “It is heartening to have someone with such a wealth of experience both personally and professionally represent on the Board of Trustees and I am extremely confident that the addition of Dr. Agredano will be positive, productive and she will be an excellent addition to the Board.” 

The district said Agredano will be on the board until voters elect a representative in November. 

We need your help. Support local, nonprofit news! BenitoLink is a nonprofit news website that reports on San Benito County. Our team is committed to this community and providing essential, accurate information to our fellow residents. It is expensive to produce local news and community support is what keeps the news flowing. Please consider supporting BenitoLink, San Benito County’s public service, nonprofit news.