Citing three specific factors, current School Board President Bob Benevento decided not to file his candidacy paperwork and will not seek re-election as a Morgan Hill Unified School District trustee in the November election.
Benevento, who was appointed to the board in 2011 and then won election to a four-year term in 2012, detailed the three circumstances for his decision making as: 1) at age 66 he wants to retire; 2) he plans to move out of the area; and 3) he wants to make way for younger board members with children currently in district schools.
“I don’t wish to be serving into my 70s. I want to enjoy some of the things one does when retired,” said Benevento, who consulted his wife before making his final determination.
Three school board seats are up for grabs as Morgan Hill Unified School District enters into its inaugural trustee area election. Trustees Tom Arnett and Rick Badillo are running for re-election in their respective districts. Since Benevento, as the incumbent, did not file in his area, the deadline to submit nomination qualifying paperwork is extended to Wednesday, Aug. 17. Registered nurse/parent Teresa Murillo is currently the only candidate in Benevento’s Trustee Area 7.
Benevento said he would like to see new trustees “without a personal agenda” join Morgan Hill Unified School District’s governing body as well as parents with children entering or currently in the district. Badillo has two children in MHUSD schools, while Arnett, who just joined the board this month, has a school-aged child entering Charter School of Morgan Hill. The rest of the board does not have children in public schools at the present time, Benevento noted.
“I am pleased and happy to have served the education community,” Benevento said. “In the future, I look forward to raising money for scholarships and grants to schools through the Morgan Hill Mushroom Mardi Gras and continuing to serve as a director on that board.”
Benevento has been affiliated with MHUSD for more than 25 years, starting as a parent and serving on a wide range of boards, including the Live Oak High School Site Council; LOHS and Ann Sobrato High School Athletic Boosters; and the MHUSD Personnel Commission.
While on the local school board, Benevento also served as president and vice president of the Santa Clara County School Boards Association; the local delegate for the California School Boards Association Delegate Assembly; and a member of the Santa Clara County Committee for School District Organization.
In the community over the last quarter century, he has served in multiple capacities, including coach, manager, staff member, division representative, executive board officer and sponsor with Morgan Hill Pony Baseball.
However, the last year in the local education realm has been a tumultuous one for Benevento and MHUSD’s fractured board.
In 2015, Benevento was the target of a failed recall movement by a parent group disgruntled by the board’s approval of moving sixth graders into the middle school sites. During that same year, another former trustee, Amy Porter-Jensen, resigned after claiming harassment from an early leader of that same parent group, which called itself Parents for Positive Change. Since then, the board failed to appoint a seventh member, forcing the district to foot the bill for a consolidated election in June. Meanwhile, MHUSD’s board operated with only six trustees and continued to deadlock 3-3 on a number of key issues, including the appointment of a new board president and vice president as well as decisions on pursuing litigation. In addition, Trustee David Gerard was part of a scathing email scandal that caused further embarrassment to the board.
“I am not leaving the board because of the events of the past year, nor the makeup of the present board, despite the opinions of some people,” Benevento said.
Among Benevento’s board goals were providing safe schools, passing the $198 million Measure G school bond, creating more career pathways through Career Technical Education, implementation of STEM, advancement of technology and continued “good governance.”
“The good governance priority fell well short of desired outcome with the election of 2014,” said Benevento, who has been at odds with Gerard, Badillo and Trustee Gino Borgioli. “Now that most of my goals and priorities have been met or are underway, I can retire from the board with my head held high.”
Trustee Area 5
Incumbent: Thomas Arnett, education researcher/parent
Challenger: Angelica Diaz, parent
Trustee Area 6
Incumbent: Rick Badillo, construction contractor/parent
Challenger: Albert Beltran Jr., education compliance auditor
Challenger: Mary Patterson, nonprofit director
Trustee Area 7
Incumbent: Bob Benevento (not running for re-election)
Challenger: Teresa Murillo, registered nurse/parent
