Heliodoro (H.T.) Sanchez, the current interim superintendent of Ector County Independent School District, has been selected as the sole candidate for the job of superintendent of TUSD, Tucson’s largest school district.
The Board voted 3-2 to move forward with a community forum to introduce Sanchez to the community and proceed through the hiring process. Many questioned why the District would only choose one candidate to introduce to the community. Over 60 applicants sought the head position at TUSD, and the Board quickly and quietly honed the list to five candidates, and then just one.
Board members Michael Hicks and Mark Stegeman did not vote in opposition to Sanchez, but against the decision to only forward one candidate. Stegeman said, “I think we had some good applicants, and I think we should bring two for the community and the board to look at.”
According to the El Paso Times, Sanchez was a top contender for the Socorro Independent School District superintendent position in July 2012, and withdrew his name from consideration after telling El Paso residents that he wanted to make El Paso his home.
On March 26, 2013 Sanchez was named interim superintendent of ECISD. Prior to that, he had never before worked as a superintendent.
According to the ECISD website, Sanchez has worked in public education for 15 years and has been an elementary, middle, and high school principal. He has also served as a district level Bilingual/ESL Services Director and Instructional Support Services Executive Director at Tyler ISD and as Accountability and Special Populations Assistant Superintendent for ECISD.
According to the area’s local news source OAonline.com, Ector County Independent School District came under scrutiny this past February for its use of “CSCOPE, an electronic curriculum management system that offers Web-based lesson plans and exams designed to help teachers adhere to the state educational requirements.”
Critics say “CSCOPE it too rigid, and conservative activists say it promotes biased, progressive ideology,” according to OAonline.com.
This year the Texas Senate Education Committee heard from “a string of witnesses who raised those concerns, criticizing the program for its lack of transparency and for promoting liberal values that they said were anti-Christian at best and openly socialist at worst. One witness compared the system to “mind control,” while an algebra teacher wept as he described quitting because he felt he was “aiding and abetting a crime” by using CSCOPE in his classroom.”
One District source, who has served on several selection committees over the years questioned the lack of community involvement in the process. She said she hoped that the “public will let the Board know how they feel about being left out at the next Governing Board meeting.”
The Board has a regularly scheduled meeting tonight at 6:00 p.m., at the District’s central office at 1010 East 10th Street.
Tucsonans will have an opportunity to ask Dr. Sanchez about CSOPE and other educational issues this Wednesday, June 12, at a community forum at Catalina High School from 7:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m.
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