The TUSD Governing Board conducted a highly secretive superintendent hiring process this year to replace outgoing John Pedicone. According to the Board, the process produced only one candidate out of the four finalists worthy of meeting the public; H.T. Sanchez.
The identities of the other candidates remained a secret while TUSD fought requests from news sources to reveal the names of the candidates rejected by three members of the Governing Board. The District lost a lawsuit filed by the Arizona Daily Star, and finally released the names Friday; a day most entities release information they hope will get very little attention and coverage.
Sanchez, who had only served as the interim superintendent of a smaller district in Texas, had advised the Board that if he was not the sole final candidate, he was not interested in the job. The Governing Board complied with his wishes and dismissed the other candidates.
Candidates:
Julie Fox Baker, who served as Chief Academic Officer of a Houston school district, which is nearly four times the size of TUSD. Baker has a Bachelors Degree in Mathematics, and Masters Degree in Education Administration, and a Ph.D. from Ohio State University.
Shonny Bria retired recently after 15 years with the Battle Ground School District. Bria was one of only six current superintendents in the state of Washington, according to the Washington Association of School Administrators.
Timothy Jenney headed up a district that had over 20,000 more students than TUSD before becoming a professor at George Washington University, Jenny has a Bachelors Degree in Education, a Masters Degree in Education, an MBA from William and Mary, and a Ph.D. from Michigan State.
H.T. Sanchez left the Ector County Independent School District after serving as interim superintendent for approximately 3 months. Prior to serving as interim superintendent, Sanchez changed jobs frequently, serving for less than three years in the positions of high school principal, assistant principal, chief of staff, assistant superintendent, and executive director.
Sanchez has a Bachelors Degree in English from Angelo State University, a Masters Degree in Education from Ross State University, and an E.D. from Texas A&M.
Sanchez had given the public the impression that he taught commerce as an adjunct professor, but according to his resume, he taught classes entitled Using Research for Best Practices, Leading Effective Schools, Public School Law, Building Capacity for Power Learning, and Ethics and Philosophy at Texas A&M University-Commerce. Sanchez’s professional focus has been primarily in the area of bilingual education
Just this week, the Odessa American reported that Sanchez’s ethics are being called into question after it was discovered he used district resources and personnel to review his proposed contract bid for the TUSD job.
According to the Arizona Daily Star, which sued the District for the names, the District took elaborate measures to keep the public out of the process including securing the parking lot and “strategically parked box trucks that allowed candidates to leave their vehicles and enter TUSD headquarters without being seen by the public…. Before even being allowed to enter the parking lot, candidates had to verify their identities through the use of a prearranged number code. Once inside, candidates were escorted to different holding rooms to keep them from seeing one another.”