Two top positions at San Lorenzo Valley High School will be vacant by the school year’s end, when Principal Michael Arredondo and Athletic Director Marcus Northcutt both plan to step down.
Chronic allergies drive principal away
Arredondo, who has served as principal since fall 2007, said the primary reason for his decision was a severe allergy to something in the air of the San Lorenzo Valley that a bevy of antibiotics and ear, nose and throat specialists could never seem to get a handle on.
“I just can’t breathe here,” he said. “They told me, ‘There’s just something in those hills that doesn’t agree with you.’”
Arredondo said he tried everything he could think of, including moving from Ben Lomond to Boulder Creek to Santa Cruz, and nothing helped.
Finally, he decided he’d had enough of sinus infections that had become chronic and told Superintendent Julie Haff at the start of this school year that he could not renew his contract, which expires in June.
“They were so bad, I would wake up in the middle of the night,” he said. “I told (Haff), ‘I can’t sign another (contract); I just can’t.”
Arredondo said he had enjoyed his tenure as principal. Despite working at schools throughout the state, he said he had never seen another community like the San Lorenzo Valley, nor the same level of cooperation among students, parents and faculty.
“The community here is terrific — everything that’s happened here has been a team effort,” he said. “Everything you want to see in a school comes together here.”
A native of Sunnyvale, Arredondo said he grew up driving through the San Lorenzo Valley on the way to the beaches in Santa Cruz, and he considered himself lucky to have lived and worked in the area.
“This is the most beautiful school I’ve ever seen,” he said. “I’m going to miss this place.”
Arredondo said he planned to search for another administrative position outside of the area, in hopes that relocating would assuage his allergy trouble.
“I love this place,” he said. “I just can’t breathe here.”
A.D. to step down, remain coach
Marcus Northcutt declined to go into specific detail about his reasons for stepping down as the athletics director, except to say that he felt that students have not been a big enough focus.
“The job is getting to be about dealing with adults and less about helping out the kids,” said Northcutt, who has held the position since 2006 when he replaced Brian Mercer.
He said he would finish out the school year as athletic director and then step away from the job, remaining at the school as a physical education teacher and coach.
Northcutt coaches the varsity boys basketball team and stepped in as girls varsity volleyball coach last year.
“I thought I was going to be the next Lee Overbeck,” he said, referring to the longtime athletics director who held the position for nearly 30 years and retired in 2002. “When I took the job, I thought I was going to retire here.”
Northcutt said his resignation should help the school, including relations with parents.
“Truly, things might be better,” Northcutt said. “I think it’s going to be good.”
Arredondo lauded Northcutt’s efforts as athletic director, citing his contributions to what he described as a strong athletic program.
“He’s just done a great, outstanding job,” Arredondo said. “I think he wants to spend more time with his kids.”
