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Dublin High School is starting to recruit for a new athletic director, given longtime Gael and former mayor Tim Sbranti’s full departure from the role by early June.
Having served as AD at his alma mater since fall 2018, Sbranti began working reduced hours Feb. 1 at his request. Sbranti’s formal resignation will become effective when DHS finds a replacement AD or when the school year ends, whichever comes first, he said.
Meanwhile, Sbranti is active in his new role as executive director of the Contra Costa Building and Construction Trades Council, where he works to represent the interests of about 35,000 construction trade workers in the county.
The council is an affiliate of the State Building and Construction Trades Council of California and even larger, the North America’s Building Trades Unions. At the state-level, the council aims to improve the jobs, safety, health and economic conditions of its affiliate members and all those in the construction industry, according to its website.
Sbranti said he welcomes the career transition, given his accumulation of experience as a former mayor and city councilmember in Dublin and trustee for the Chabot-Las Positas Community College District, as well as his time as a teacher and coach.
“It’s a different field, but given my background in education, workforce development, policy work, political work, public affairs, community relations, all those things are rolled into the position,” Sbranti said.
The AD role at DHS has been demanding, filled with long evenings and weekends of work, but enjoyable nevertheless, according to Sbranti.
“I loved my time,” he told the Weekly. “It was a great position.”
To Dublin High principal Maureen Byrne, Sbranti has embodied what it means to be a Gael.
“He played a pivotal role in elevating the quality of Dublin High athletics and the perception of the school as a force on a local, regional and state level,” Byrne said.
As for the director position, Sbranti said it is a new opportunity to do something different. The job includes promoting the trades as a career path and building the bridge from apprenticeship and journeymen to jobs.
“I like the fact that it allows me to work in the educational space — working with schools, working with community colleges — but also to work with employers,” Sbranti said.
Prior to becoming the AD at DHS, Sbrani started as a teacher and coach at the school in 1998.
Meanwhile he served as a Dublin City Council member, starting in 2002, and became the city’s mayor in 2008. Sbranti, a Democrat, campaigned for the State Assembly District 16 seat in 2014 but lost to Republican Catharine Baker in the general election.
In 2015, he left DHS and became deputy chief of staff and district director for his former Dublin City Council colleague, U.S. Rep. Eric Swalwell. By summer 2018, Sbranti stepped down from that role in favor of a local job to help raise his young daughter. At that point, he returned to DHS to lead Gael athletics as AD.
While working as the AD, he also served on the CLPCCD Board of Trustees, representing Area 5 from 2019 to 2024.
Of his new union role in Contra Costa County, Sbranti said, “It just seemed to be a good use of my experiences and knowledge that I’ve been able to build up through some of those different sectors.”
Sbranti’s transition to a part-time status and his future resignation was approved by the Dublin Unified School District Board of Trustees at its regular meeting Feb. 11.
“We were incredibly lucky to have had a former Dublin High student, teacher, coach, and city mayor in this role, and we are thankful for all he has done for countless Gael athletes and our school community,” Byrne said.
