New school superintendent for Estancia

Joel Shirley, the current Estancia superintendent, will retire at the end of June after 2½ years in the position; he'll be succeeded by Cindy Sims.

Shirley explained that the Estancia School District includes, Estancia, Willard, Lucy, Chilili, Tajique, Torreón and part of Mcintosh.

He said, during his tenure he has seen funding from wind projects affect the quality of education in Estancia.

“The windmill money here covers 100 percent of our technological needs. We currently have one-to-one computers for the students,” Shirley said, adding, “Last year it allowed us to replace a muchneeded activity bus, [which cost] just short of $200,000.”

The position will be filled July 1 by Sims, who has a master’s degree in elementary education and a doctorate in educational leadership. She started with the school district March 27 as Associate Superintendent of Personnel and Curriculum.

Previously she was with the Moriarty-Edgewood School District for 23 years where she served as a Principal, Director of Student Learning and Executive Director of Personnel. “Everybody knows me,” she said.

During her 35-year career she also taught in California and Colorado.