Christopher High School’s first principal John Perales took a position in the Gilroy Unified School District office nine months ago, but now the man who spent almost 17 years in the district – as a teacher, coach and principal – is moving on to Hollister, where he’ll pursue his dream of leading schools as a superintendent.
The San Benito High School District Board of Education voted unanimously to appoint Perales as their superintendent March 6, placing him in charge of a two high-school district, which includes a comprehensive high school of 2,950 students and a continuation school.
“I don’t know how to put it. I’m excited about the opportunity… but at the same time it’s a little scary,” Perales said. “I don’t know the city; I don’t know the folks there – whereas here I know everybody.”
Friends and coworkers have asked Perales if he took the Hollister superintendent position to line himself up as a candidate for the GUSD Superintendent position – should it become available. They’ve also asked if he plans to come back to Gilroy.
“Who knows what the future brings?” Perales said, adding that his goal is to make San Benito the best possible district that he can. “I might fall in love with Hollister and spend the rest of my career there.”
Perales, an alumnus of Gilroy High School and Gavilan College, will give up his position as the GUSD Human Resources Director of Certificated Personnel on Monday, March 31 only to jump into his new position as superintendent the next day.
In his years in the Gilroy district, Perales has been a history teacher at GHS and Mt. Madonna Continuation School, football coach at GHS and principal at Mt. Madonna Continuation High School, South Valley Middle School and Christopher High School.
“Its just different because I’ve gone through Gilroy schools as a student and made my entire career in Gilroy,” Perales said. “Now I’m venturing out and going a little south to Hollister.”
While it’s a step away from the community he loves, it’s a step closer to who he enjoys working with most: students. In Hollister, his superintendent office will be located on the district’s main high school campus. In his current position at GUSD, Perales manages about 520 certificated staff including teachers, nurses, and counselors from a separate district office.
“My biggest adjustment has been being away from students. I miss them dearly,” Perales said. “This position also gives me the position to be back on a campus.”
The Hollister superintendent position first came open in late June or July of 2013, and Perales’ friends urged him to apply, but he didn’t as he had just been hired into the district office on July 1, 2013. The San Benito High School District Board of Education took an interim superintendent and put the job back out in the market in January 2014. This time, Perales’ friends urged him to apply, and he did.
“When it came open again, I thought, well maybe its God’s way of saying ‘you’ve got to look at this,’” Perales said.
During the interview process, Perales was asked what factors were pushing and pulling him to the Hollister district.
“Honestly there is nothing pushing me away from Gilroy Unified,” said Perales, who praised GUSD’s superintendent and school board and said the biggest pull to the Hollister district was “wanting to be a superintendent” and “wanting to lead a school district.”
Perales made GUSD Superintendent Debbie Flores aware that he was applying for the position, and she mentored him through the process, Perales said. He also told the school board.
His GUSD position paid $165,000 annually (including benefits) when he took the job, and he received a 4.5 percent raise retroactive to July 1, 2013 at the end of January – the same raise that every other management employee in the district received.
“Money was not a pull for me,” Perales said. “To me it’s always been about a fit.”
As someone who has hired teachers into the district, Perales knows employees spend a lot of time at work, so finding a good match is important.
“I always tell our staff we’re going to spend more time together than we spend with our loved ones,” he said. “We have to support each other.”
Perales’ oldest son, John Perales Junior, is a seventh-grader in the dual immersion program at SVMS and has been imagining himself as a student at CHS since his father became the school’s first principal in the summer of 2008.
“It would be a really hard sell for him not to go to Christopher High School,” said Perales, who notes his son has watched the dirt lot become a high school.
Perales also has a second and a fifth grade daughter in the dual immersion program at Rod Kelley Elementary School.
While the Perales family hasn’t ruled out moving to Hollister, Perales is planning to do a lot of driving for now as he immerses himself in the choir, sports and theater events of his new school district.
