The San Benito High School District has accepted the resignation of former Superintendent John Perales, was charged with brandishing a gun at a person in a car parked outside his Greystone Court house last Oct. 22.
A statement from the high school district released Tuesday said the board accepted the resignation Friday along with a release agreement. The district appointed former human resources head Shawn Tennenbaum to the interim superintendent role.
Gilroy police said they had a complaint on Oct. 23 about Perales brandishing a gun at a man parked in a car outside his house the night before.
The victim went to the police department and said that while he was waiting in his car for a friend who lived near Perales, when the superintendent pointed a gun at him and told him to leave. He calmed down and the man left. But the next day he decided to report it to police. GPD sent the report to the Santa Clara County District Attorneys office, which filed a charge Dec. 13 against Perales for brandishing a handgun. Perales turned himself into Gilroy police Dec. 16, posted bail and was given a court date.
Perales in December had been placed on paid administrative leave, but district officials kept have quiet on the reasoning. The district statement read as follows.
“At its meeting on January 13, 2017, the Board accepted the resignation of the Superintendent and approved a resignation/release agreement. As this is a confidential personnel matter, no additional details can be provided at this time. The Board has appointed Shawn Tennenbaum, Director of Human Resources, to the position of Interim Superintendent and is confident that the District’s operations will continue efficiently and without interruption under his leadership.”
Perales has been superintendent since 2014. He came from an administrative position in the Gilroy district.
It has been a rocky couple of years at the top for San Benito High School. The first principal hired under Perales, Todd Deardon, resigned after a year following an investigation.
