After working in education for 24 years, 18 of which were as an administrator, Scott Cory will be returning home to the Santa Ynez Valley as the new superintendent of the Santa Ynez Valley Union High School District.
“I grew up in the Santa Ynez Valley, and my parents still live there as well,” Cory said. “The opportunity to come down there and reconnect with everybody in that valley was very appealing to me.”
A 1983 graduate of Santa Ynez High School, Cory will begin his tenure on July 1. He was selected for the position out of pool of 41 applicants. Cory will be taking over from current superintendent Paul Turnbull. The school district includes Santa Ynez High School and Refugio High School, which is a continuation school.
Cory said there are a number of challenges he sees as opportunities for the district: “There are definitely some fiscal needs for the district, and then there’s some infrastructure pieces in terms of … the age of some of the buildings and some things that need to happen.”
He also noted the district-funding bond measure, Measure L, that voters turned down in the November 2012 election and said he has experience leading an austerity committee in his current role as principal of Chester Junior and Senior High School in the Plumas Unified School District in Northern California.
Cory said his new position requires a number of management skills beyond the role of principal, but that thanks to his experience working in smaller communities, he understands the importance of relationships.
“You live and die by those relationships,” he said.
One of the first tasks he’ll undertake is the district’s move from California standards to the new national standards. With seven years of teaching experience, multiple teaching credentials, and experience as an administrator, Cory is confident he’ll be able to meet these challenges.
