Maria Figueroa, the new Director of Student Equity For Mexican American Student Services, and Scott Hagerman, Director of Exceptional Education, of the Tucson Unified School District, have applied to be the Albuquerque Public Schools’ superintendent. As TUSD employees begin to discuss the need to lose even more schools, administrators are hoping to jump ship.
Before he left last October, Deputy Superintendent Youssef Awaad warned that the District is in severe financial difficulty. Awaad, left in part due to the struggles he had with Superintendent H.T. Sanchez and Board president Adelita Grijalva, to maintain the financial integrity of the District’s finances.
As a result, of the District’s continued failure, more schools are expected to face closure this summer.
Awwad left for Portland, just a month after administrator Jim Fish announced he was taking a job in Colorado with former TUSD Superintendent Liz Fagen.
Cara Rene, Director of Communications, left after her position which had reported directly to Sanchez, was placed under the new Chief Information Officer, Damon Jackson.
Jackson served as Chief Technology Officer of the Ector County, Texas, school district under Sanchez. Jackson quit this year and returned to Texas.
Steve Holmes, another Assistant Superintendent at Tucson Unified School District, is one of two finalists in the running to head the Sunnyside Unified School District.
At the time of Awwad’s departure, District staff penned a letter entitled H.T. Sanchez is on the “Ooops” Tour in Tucson. The letter read in part:
H.T. has never been open to criticism and he has punished many who have disagreed with him. It is not that he holds people accountable; it is that his definition of accountability means agreeing with him regardless of how wrong he may be on issues such as the budget, his poorly thought-out 27:1 staffing ratio, managed curriculum, procurement practices, hiring practices, the use of Title I funds, the use of desegregation funds, the inappropriate use of District resources, the treatment of community members, etc. H.T.’s nasty and unprofessional methodology in pressuring administrators -out or down- in the direction of resignation, retirement or demotion – has provided real insight into the sort of person H.T. is. His tactics have nothing to do with improving performance.
A very short list of administrators who have been pushed out, pushed down or intimidated into submission includes: Teri Melendez, Elizabeth Redondo, Jim Fish, Cara Rene, Augustine Romero, Yousef Awwad, Jeffrey St. Claire, Maggie Shafer, Candy Egbert, Ana Gallegos, David Scott, Kathyrn Manley-Crocket, Rex Scott, Sam Brown, etc. Some, like Sam Brown and Ana Gallegos were put out to pasture, until they changed their ways and stopped questioning “the man.” Gallegos was going to be moved to Pueblo; she protested and then agreed to work with him- landing her in his graces and a gigantic promotion. Brown was moved into the legal department, stripped of many of his functions. He then bent to the will of “the man” and now has been moved back into the desegregation department. Many have said that he was “punished” for advocating for African American and Latino students which was, in the view of Sanchez, advocating for “the plaintiffs.” This is frightening for any of us who believe that we must advocate for our students.
Board member Michael Hicks says that he isn’t surprised that administrators are leaving. With morale at an all time low, Hicks says it is not surprising that professionals would look for other opportunities where their talent would be appreciated.