This article was written by BenitoLink intern Meghan Lee. Lea este artículo en español aquí.
During its March 11 meeting, the San Benito High School District Board of Trustees removed an agenda item that would have eliminated the school’s Athletic Director position. If the board voted to eliminate the position it would have laid off current Athletic Director Tod Thatcher, who has been with the district for 31 years.
More than 70 people, many of them current Hollister High athletes and parents, attended the March 11 meeting. Thatcher said he found out about his potential layoff the Friday before the Tuesday meeting. He said he reached out to his community to oppose the move and that it was heartwarming to see the support.
“This group and the outpouring of support that I’ve got is just a reflection of our small town, and it’s really about the relationships that we’ve built,” Thatcher said.
Thatcher’s potential layoff came as a result of the district looking into restructuring the athletics department, according to the district. Hollister High School has one of the largest athletics programs in Northern California.
In a statement to BenitoLink released the day after the meeting, district Superintendent Shawn Tennebaum said that the move to eliminate Thatcher’s position was a response to a greater need for oversight in the program. The statement said that the size and complexity of the school’s athletic program means it needs changes in its administrative structure.
“The District has identified a need for this administrative oversight to ensure we are meeting the needs of a 21st Century athletics program,” the statement reads. “We want to be clear that we are not eliminating any of our athletic programs or changing our commitment to supporting the nearly 24 percent of the student body that participates in athletics.”
The statement also emphasized that the district would be working further with the teacher’s association to address the program’s issues. During the March 11 board meeting, San Benito Teachers’ Association President Mark Krause echoed Tennebaum’s statement after the removal of the agenda item was announced.
“San Benito High School Teachers’ Association looks forward to good-faith negotiations on this and many more items,” Krause said.
You can read the full text of the Superintendent’s statement here:
A statement from San Benito High School District Superintendent Dr. Shawn Tennenbaum:
Given the complexity of athletics today, the District has recognized that the responsibilities of managing the large athletic program at Hollister High School have increased in recent years. San Benito High School District believes it is essential to meet these growing needs through greater managerial and administrative oversight of our athletic programs now and into the future. Hollister High School, which is the second largest high school by population in the Central Coast Section — stretching from South San Francisco to King City — also has one of the largest athletic programs in Northern California, with 27 varsity programs and 54 total teams featuring nearly 1,200 student-athletes as of Spring 2024. The District has identified a need for this administrative oversight to ensure we are meeting the needs of a 21st Century athletics program. We want to be clear that we are not eliminating any of our athletic programs or changing our commitment to supporting the nearly 24 percent of the student body that participates in athletics.
The Board’s decision to remove the item from Tuesday’s agenda provides the District with additional time to work collaboratively with the teachers’ association to create the most optimal solution moving forward. There is a common interest to ensure that we are meeting the needs of our student-athletes, which are only amplified by the increasing size and complexity of our athletic program.
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