It was a festive atmosphere at Mo’s River Road Grill on Tuesday, June 2 even before the first election results came in. About 70 supporters of Dan Burns, a candidate for Monterey County Superintendent of Schools, had gathered for finger food like calamari and breaded chicken and three types of cookies while the playlist “Fun Cocktail Hour” from Spotify played in the background.
Preliminary results show Burns, the former superintendent at Salinas Union High School District, leading by 14 points over Ralph Porras, the current deputy superintendent at Monterey County Office of Education and former superintendent of Pacific Grove Unified. As of 10pm, he has 23,044 votes to Porras’ 17,293.
Last year, Deneen Guss, the current MCOE superintendent, announced she will retire in 2027 after leading MCOE for two four-year terms. She endorsed Porras to take her seat.
Burns says this year was the right time to run for superintendent after working as a consultant for various school districts and reigniting his passion to impact the education future of young people. “I have a granddaughter here,” Burns adds. “To be able to have some type of impact on her potential, continuing learning through her years is very important for me as well.”
This was the first time since 2010, that the superintendent of schools’ seat was contested.
Both candidates have 70 years of experience combined.
Burns says it is important to focus on early literacy and education, and providing workforce skills to students who opt not to attend college after high school. “I really want the County Office of Education to be a premiere support environment for all of our school districts,” Burns says.
MCOE provides services for the county’s 24 school districts and eight charter schools, as well as programs for migrant and special education students, and administers the Early Learning Program (combining federal Head Start and state preschool).