Just like the community, we’re perplexed.
Just like the community, we’re perplexed. Gilroy High School’s two agriculture science teachers, Sabrina Olivas-Henry and David Duarte, who are in their second year of running the school’s ag science program, have been unanimously dismissed by the district’s board of trustees.
The reason? The teachers say they’ve been told only that they weren’t “a good fit.”
But parents, ag students and members of the Future Farmers of America, which Olivas-Henry and Duarte also coordinated, packed a recent school board meeting to differ with that vague criticism.
“These teachers are even getting school bus licenses so it’s easier to transport kids to all their competitions. They are so committed, and now we may be losing these young, innovative teachers,” parent Marcia Linden told reporter Eric Leins.
So if Olivas-Henry and Duarte were doing a terrific job, and parents and students were delighted, why is the Gilroy Unified School District making this change? The district won’t divulge the reason, but administrators have taken pains to make it clear that the dismissals were not a budget-related decision.
“If we were flush with funds, this would still be happening,” said Linda Piceno, GUSD’s assistant superintendent for human resources.
The fact that money is not an issue makes it that much more difficult to comprehend why two teachers who have – in less than two years – sharply increased the ag program’s enrollment, expanded vocational program’s offerings, and tripled the number of state awards given to the program, are so hastily being shown the door.
In a community with as distinctive and substantial a farming past and present as Gilroy boasts, the high school’s agriculture and FFA programs are a vital link to our rural history. More importantly, the programs are a powerful way to make sure our agricultural industry finds ways to thrive. Those who farm have to be smarter than ever to survive.
It’s possible – and we sincerely hope this is the case – that the two teachers were wonderful outside the classroom and less than satisfactory inside.
That’s the “optimistic view” of the situation. The pessimistic view is that the school district wants to dismantle the ag program and one effective way to do this is to disrupt the program by creating a revolving door with teachers.
“Nothing was done lightly,” the explanation offered by Trustee David McRae isn’t exactly enlightening.
For now, we should take the reassurances that the ag program and FFA are safe. Surely, trustees would speak publicly and honestly if such a change were in the offing.
“It looks like a confusing situation, but staff gave us their reasons for not rehiring them, and the board made its decision based on that,” said Trustee Tom Bundros.
Bundros has high regard for programs that are often seen as “extracurricular.” So, we trust that school board members will keep an eye on the process from here on out. Gilroy deserves a top-notch ag science program taught by teachers willing to give 110 percent inside and outside the classroom. That and a few years of stability will get the program where it needs to be.
