Gilroy High School stayed in house with its hiring of a new
athletic director, naming nine-year GHS employee Julie Berggren to
the post.
Gilroy High School stayed in house with its hiring of a new athletic director, naming nine-year GHS employee Julie Berggren to the post.
Berggren is replacing longtime athletic director Jack Daley, who held the position for 11 years before his removal following a Gilroy Unified School District investigation surrounding a DUI accident and arrest of former GHS track and field coach Alvin Harrison in April.
Berggren confirmed her hiring Tuesday and said her pursuit of the position had a lot to do with keeping the school’s athletic traditions intact while enabling a smooth transition into a new era.
“I think that there’s an understanding that there needed to be someone in place right now, someone who knows what’s going on,” Berggren said. “I definitely wanted to make sure that an outsider didn’t come in and start making changes as someone who doesn’t know the pulse of Gilroy High School. I want to make sure that we continue an excellent athletic program at Gilroy High School and that all parties involved feel supported.”
Berggren stood as one of Daley’s many vocal supporters – a campaign to “Bring Jack Back” – in light of his May dismissal and said she had numerous discussions with her friend and colleague about following in his footsteps as head of the program.
“I had lots and lots of conversations with Jack about what to expect and what (the job) is going to be like,” Berggren said. “I got a lot of encouraging words from Jack, and I think that definitely helped in my decision. Having his blessing was something that was needed for me to move forward.”
Berggren said she was interviewed June 23 by GHS Principal Marco Sanchez, faculty and support staff.
“The circumstances that placed us in a position where we had to select a new athletic director were not ideal,” Sanchez wrote in an email to the Dispatch. “It has been very difficult for the Mustang family to endure. Julie’s appointment was bittersweet. We wanted to find someone who understood the culture of the school, had a successful coaching tenure and general knowledge of the duties and responsibilities of the job.”
An email announcing the new hire was sent out June 24 to GHS faculty. No school board or district members were involved in the interview.
“That kind of surprised me,” Berggren said.
Her role as athletic director was effective immediately with searches to fill four open coaching positions, finalizing athletic schedules and organizing coach, parent and student-athlete orientations as her first orders of business.
According to Berggren, she will make a little less than $60,000 a year in her new role – the same amount she made as activities director. Salary includes tenured pay and a roughly $3,000 stipend.
“The AD job is a regular teacher salary plus an additional stipend which amounts to pennies on the hour considering what an AD (does),” Sanchez said. “Jack Daley set the bar very, very high in terms of the amount of time he put into the job.”
GUSD trustee Jamie Rosso was the lone board member to voice his personal stance in late-May on Daley’s removal saying he expressed hesitation over the board’s decision, which he regretted “to a certain extent.”
On Thursday, Rosso advocated the Berggren hire.
“I’m very enthusiastic about Julie,” he said. “I think she is an excellent choice. She will be an excellent AD and I think it will be good for the school.”
Berggren has been GHS’s activities director for the past five years as well as the Mustangs varsity softball manager the past two seasons. She arrived on campus 10 years ago as a physical education instructor. After four years, Berggren departed but returned one year later to take on her activities director role, where she was in charge of areas such as student government interactions on campus, to organizing rallies, dances and honor roll brunches among other responsibilities.
“I always thought I would be activities director the rest of my life. I enjoyed it immensely. It kept me super, super busy. I enjoyed working with the leadership kids,” Berggren said. “This is going to be a different challenge. Hopefully I can do it half as well as Jack did.”
Sanchez added in his email that he felt Berggren’s established relationships and familiarity with the Tri-County Athletic League – the league in which the Mustangs compete – the Central Coast Section and the California Interscholastic Federation are beneficial.
“Julie is very well-organized … and is respected among her coaching peers,” Sanchez wrote. “Her teams have been very successful on the softball diamond and her athletes have exhibited model sportsmanship. She’s a great fit, and she will do well.”
