Former Sundevil administrator Flores returns

Superintendent asked past athletic director to serve on interim basis

Theresa Flores will be back at Española Valley High School — albeit for a short time.

Flores confirmed Thursday that she agreed to take on an interim role as the athletic director at the school, a post she held from 2009-12 and from 2001-04. She replaces Eric Vigil, who resigned from the school district after four years as athletic coordinator.

Flores, who retired in 2015 after spending two years as principal at Alcalde Elementary School, said recently rehired Española Superintendent Bobbie Gutierrez asked her to take over at the school while the district searches for a replacement. She said she will work about eight weeks, but does not expect — or wants — to commit to anything beyond that.

The hire needs the approval of the state’s Public Education Department, which has been in control of Española Public Schools finances since last year, and Flores hopes that will happen in the next couple of days.

Flores said she enjoyed her retirement, but wanted to help out a school district in which she taught and was an administrator for more than three decades.

“I consider this my home district,” Flores said. “I devoted all of my time to Española Public Schools, and I have a real desire to see them do well.”

Flores said she will handle all the regular AD duties, but she indicated that a big focus for her is the athletic budget.

“I really don’t know what the status of everything is,” Flores said. “It is my hope that I can look and see what exactly has been done and what needs to be done. I’m sure there are schedules that need to be confirmed and contracts that need to be signed.”

Flores returns to the school district at a tumultuous time. The board rehired Gutierrez two weeks ago after resigned in April 2016. Gutierrez left amid criticism regarding her investigation that led to the firing of then-Española head boys basketball coach Richard Martinez over allegations he bullied and intimidated players, parents, students and administrators.

Martinez was rehired by Eric Martinez, Gutierrez’s replacement who is not related to the coach, in July but he never coached a game as the Public Education Department conducted its own investigation into the allegations. In between Gutierrez’s resignation and return, the state took over financial control of the school district, Eric Martinez was placed on administrative leave, Richard Martinez reached an agreement that suspended his teaching license for a year and revoked his coaching license until 2019, and Vigil resigned after he learned he was being demoted to a physical education teacher.

Flores said she has worked with most of the current group of coaches and expects the transition to be smooth before she hands over the reins to her successor. Flores added that she kept a close eye on what was happening in the school district and doesn’t expect any surprises.

“I am pretty familiar with the district as a while, and I have really kept up with everything that has been going on,” Flores said.