SFPS chief ’s contract extended
Pleased with superintendent’s performance, school board adds a year, but pay remains same
In a vote of confidence for veteran educator Veronica García, who began reprising her role as superintendent of Santa Fe Public Schools less than seven months ago, the school board voted 4-0 Wednesday night to extend her current two-year contract to three years.
The vote followed a two-hour closeddoor session called to conduct an evaluation of García at the district’s offices on Alta Vista Street.
“It was probably the easiest evaluation of a superintendent ever done,” board President Susan Duncan said after the vote.
“We’re very pleased with the work she is doing and her dedication,” said board Vice President Lorraine Price.
García’s current contract expires in the summer of 2018, but the extension runs into the summer of 2019 at the same annual salary she earns now — $180,000.
School board member Steven Carrillo said it would be “unconscionable” to increase her salary since the district cannot give raises to its other employees at this time.
Speaking briefly following the board vote, García said, “It is my honor and a real opportunity to be able to share my skills and service.”
Board member Linda Trujillo, who also serves in the state House of Representatives, did not attend the meeting because she was at the Capitol.
Duncan said the other four board members called Trujillo during their closed-door meeting to update her and that she approved of their action.
The board’s decision could bring a sense of leadership stability to the district of some 30 schools and 13,000 students as it works to initiate a new five-year strategic plan.
Chief among the long-term goals is to improve academic achievement rates.
On the immediate horizon, the district is bracing for financial cuts as legislators
work to plug a state budget gap brought on by declining oil and gas revenues, among other factors.
This is not the first time the board has displayed support for García, who served as the district’s superintendent for about three years starting in 1999 before becoming the state’s first Cabinet secretary of education from 2003-10.
In a surprise move in July, after announcing it would seek a permanent replacement for former Superintendent Joel Boyd, the school board hired García as a temporary superintendent with a contract that didn’t even run a year.
Shortly thereafter, the board voted to give García a two-year contract.
To date, her tenure has been devoid of the controversy or criticism that often followed Boyd as he initiated a series of fast-moving initiatives to raise graduation rates and expand programming, particularly at the high school level.
García, 65, started her 40-year education career at Albuquerque Public Schools in the mid1970s.
She most recently served as executive director of the nonprofit advocacy group New Mexico Voices for Children, which is headquartered in Albuquerque.
During her State of the Schools address in December, García said the district would strive to strengthen ties with Santa Fe city government, the state Legislature and community groups to find money to expand the school day with after-school offerings, summer programs and more early childhood education classes.
Contact Robert Nott at 505-9863021 or rnott@sfnewmexican.com.