‘It’s going to be big shoes to fill’
School board prepares to search for replacement
Santa Fe Board of Education President Kate Noble said the district faces a significant challenge in finding a successor to Superintendent Veronica García, whose five-year tenure has been marked by slow, steady progress and a willingness to collaborate on a variety of fronts.
Finding someone who can keep graduation rates moving forward, while at the same time building bridges between school and community leaders, is no simple task, board members said.
García announced Monday her plans to retire in June. Her departure will leave a significant vacuum in a district that in the midst of the pandemic saw its graduation rate rise to 86.3 percent.
Noble said it was too early to speculate on what the board may be looking for in a replacement; it will gather online Thursday at 4:30 p.m. for a special meeting to discuss the vacancy.
However, Noble said the next leader of the 13,000-student district needs to form or maintain an administrative group like the one García relied on, Noble said.
“Dr. Garcia built a strong team, and we need to take care of that team and the culture that has been making a difference in Santa Fe Public Schools,” Noble said.
Board member Carmen Gonzales praised Garcia for her work to improve Santa Fe’s graduation rates, as well her foresight in pushing for passage of the Education Technology Note, a five-year, $55-million bond to fund technology infrastructure and staff.
Voters approved the measure in February 2018, and the move proved fortuitous when schools shut down last March in response to the COVID19 pandemic, forcing districts to turn to virtual learning as a lifeline.
“It’s going to be big shoes to fill, but I want somebody who is also a visionary for the future and good at working with people,” Gonzales said.
Neither Noble nor Gonzales had specific candidates in mind to lead the district, but Noble acknowledged there are qualified people within Santa Fe Public Schools who might be interested.
Some of Garcia’s lieutenants have significant administrative experience,
including Deputy Superintendent Linda Sink, formerly a high-ranking official at Albuquerque Public Schools; Larry Chavez, an associate superintendent in Santa Fe since 2018; and Deputy Superintendent Kristi Janda-Wagner, who has been with the district for nearly two decades.
The job also is likely to attract interest in the state and nationally. Noble said creating an outline for the search will be critical for the board as it moves forward.
“I know we need to grow our own talent, but I need to dig into the question and figure out what it means to be qualified to be superintendent, as does the rest of the board,” Noble said. “It’s not my job or one person’s job on the board to put it all together. It’s the board’s job to hire a superintendent.”