On Wednesday, May 15, just as the school year comes to an end (the last day is May 30), Superintendent Dan Burns announced he is stepping down from his leadership position at Salinas Union High School District.
"After seven years as your superintendent, the time has come for the board of trustees and I to build leadership capacity through the process of picking a successor superintendent," Burns said in a video statement. Burns announced that he and the board are developing a succession plan and he will continue on at the district in an advisory role.
Burns announced his decision was linked to a health diagnosis. “It became very clear that I needed to ensure the long-term stability of the district and pass the baton to a new leader,” he said.
During his leadership the SUHSD, Burns oversaw the construction and opening of San Juan High School, built wellness centers on campuses across the district, developed below-market rate staff housing on Abbott Street and added extracurricular activities for students, among other achievements.
He also presided over a number of challenges, including steering schools through pandemic closures and remote learning.
The district has also faced several controversies related to race over the past several years, including students stomping on and posing with a mutilated Black baby doll in 2021.
In 2023, during Black History Month, students at Rancho San Juan High School used stereotypes to celebrate the occasion and cotton to depict ice cream in a class project (millions of enslaved Black people worked in the American cotton industry). Then the following month during a presentation at Harden Middle School to uplift Latinos and educate them on how to become allies with their Black peers, a student accessed the Bluetooth system and shared an emoji of a monkey with the N-word.
Burns presided over the investigations of these incidents and in 2021 announced the creation of a Diversity, Equity and Inclusion strategic planning committee.
The SUHSD board anticipates next steps in the the succession process will take several months.
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