Santa Maria physical therapist John Hollinshead is replacing Ike Ochoa on the Santa Maria-Bonita School District Board of Education.
Ochoa, a board member for 20 years, chose not to run for re-election this year. His last day serving the district will be Dec. 11. Hollinshead, who came in third in the November general election, will be sworn in at the Dec. 12 school board meeting, along with incumbents Linda Cordero and Jody Oliver.
In an interview with the Sun, Hollinshead said some of his first goals as a school board member will be to attend the California School Boards Association conference for new and first-term board members. Then he’ll start introducing himself to people at the district, making site visits to local schools, listening to teachers, and assessing the district’s budget and curriculum.
Hollinshead’s children attended schools in the district, including Miller Elementary School, where Hollinshead has served on the site council since 2003. He also served on the Santa Maria-Bonita School District Boundary Committee 2004.
The owner of Santa Maria Valley Physical Therapy, Hollinshead has also worked as a coach and athletic trainer at the junior high and high school levels. He holds a master’s degree in athletic training.
As a board member, he wants to ensure things “near and dear” to his heart, like physical education, “aren’t slipping by the wayside.” He’s also interested in looking into dual immersion, or bilingual, education programs, and wants to address the district’s overcrowding problem.
“Of course everything we talk about has to go under a budgetary microscope,” Hollinshead said.
