Bill Costanzo, who has overseen the agriculture program at Tomales High School for the last 13 years, will leave the position this January along with his wife, Heidi Alves-Costanzo, an administrative secretary at the school.
Mr. Costanzo has been the driving force of the agriculture department, which has the county’s only remaining Future Farmers of America program, but recently members of the community have expressed dissatisfaction with his tenure. At a school board meeting last Thursday, a small group of parents spoke about their unhappiness both with him and the board’s handling of his departure.
Toni Azevedo, the parent of a graduating senior, said she and other parents had filed a complaint against Mr. Costanzo in July. “The resulting treatment has felt like a slap in the face,” she said. “Nothing has been done to protect our kids. We filed a complaint, we asked for accountability, and we received nothing.”
Neither the parents, the board nor Mr. Costanzo would comment on the nature of the issues, to which Shoreline Unified School District Superintendent Bob Raines said he had responded privately in September.
Tomales High Principal Adam Jennings noted Mr. Costanzo’s importance and impact as a teacher. “There are a ton of kids out there who have shared with me over the years how important that ag program has been to them,” he said. “There’s a lot of folks who really had a great experience under Mr. Costanzo.”
Of Tomales High’s 155 students, 53 are currently enrolled in the school’s agriculture program, which covers agricultural biology, chemistry and leadership, a variety of competitions and four different levels of welding.
Mr. Costanzo said that under his tenure, enrollment in the program rose from less than 25 percent of the student population to over 33 percent. The department brought in over $500,000 in grants over the last five years and, in 2017, was named the Outstanding Single Person Agriculture Department. That same year, Mr. Costanzo received a Teacher of Excellence Award from the California Agriculture Teachers Association.
Mr. Jennings stressed that the ag program is key to the school community. “We’re the last school in Marin County to offer an F.F.A. program; that’s a really big badge of honor for our community, and something we’re really proud of it,” he said.
In order to replace Mr. Costanzo, who is moving out of state to take another job in educational agriculture, the school will turn in part to the advice of its agriculture advisory board, an independent group made up of locals, ranchers and returning graduates.
One of the advisory board’s members is Jolynn McClelland, who graduated from Tomales High in 2000 and now operates two dairies with her husband in Valley Ford and the Point Reyes National Seashore. “For those of us who were lucky enough to experience the [ag program], we are keenly aware of the wealth of experiences students can take part in,” she wrote to the Light. “This why we are willing to do what it takes to see that this transition goes smoothly, that the program stays intact and available for our youth for years to come.”
Mr. Raines said on Thursday that he had already received a number of leads for candidates, and he encouraged any local talent interested in the position to speak with Mr. Jennings. In the meantime, “We’re trying to find the right candidate to do a long-term sub position for the rest of the year,” Mr. Jennings said.
Some parents on Thursday expressed concern about how Mr. Costanzo’s departure halfway through the year might impact their children.
“My daughter has looked forward to being a member of F.F.A. since she was a young girl,” Jennifer Crayne said. “An agriculture teacher is pivotal to the success of our children.” Ms. Crayne said that letting Mr. Costanzo go in January was “similar to firing the head football coach before the Superbowl.”
For his part, Mr. Costanzo said he hoped the district would realize one of his longtime goals of creating a farm at the high school, which would be useful for students who don’t have access to family farms and could provide the agriculture program with long-term stability.
The district has received $300,000 in state funding and money from the Marin County Office of Education for the project, which Mr. Raines said has been held up largely because of infrastructure logistics. “At this point [the board] has been dragging [its] feet for three years,” Mr. Costanzo said. “If money doesn’t get spent by the end of the school year, it’s going to have to go back to the state.”