Last month, longtime local educator Tony Rodriguez took the oath of office to become trustee for Area 7 of the Tulare County Board of Education. Rodriguez will serve the Tulare area, replacing Pat Hillman, who retired last month.
Rodriguez grew up in the Woodville area, attending Woodville Union School and graduating from Monache High School in Porterville. He received his bachelor’s degree in mathematics and teaching credential from the University of California, Santa Cruz, and received his master’s degree in educational administration from the University of San Francisco.
Rodriguez began his teaching career in San Jose, moving to Watsonville where he taught until 1990. He and his wife decided to move back to the Central Valley so that he could teach at Tulare Union High School. In 1997, Rodriguez became the school’s vice principal and then the district’s assistant superintendent of curriculum. Mr. Rodriguez was selected as superintendent for the Tulare Joint Union High School District in 2017, retiring in 2021. Rodriguez’s wife, Rosario, is also a teacher.