A school board in San Benito, Texas is planning to negotiate an agreement with Tucson Unified School District deputy superintendent Adrian Vega. According to the Valley Star, Vega was selected for the district’s top administrative post in a 4-3 vote.
Under TUSD Superintendent H.T. Sanchez administrators have fled the largest school district in southern Arizona. Vega had come from Texas with Sanchez when he took TUSD’s top spot.
The Valley Star reports that consultants recommended Vega for the job.
Before arriving in Tucson, Vega served as the principal at New Tech Odessa High School. When he left, the that school was rated as “Needs Improvement,” by the Texas Education Authority.
According to TUSD whistleblowers: “Even HT’s second in command- Adrian Vega- has found himself on the bad side of his Texan buddy. HT degrades him; scolds him; pokes fun at him and otherwise has let everyone know that Adrian’s work is worthless- in front of principals and his 1010 leadership team. Even though we all believe that Adrian’s talents have been limited to his Texan-drawl-hoopla-cheerleading activities during meetings, we all believe that HT’s behavior is despicable. Vague-ah has stuck as the nickname we tagged him with for a good reason. His skill level as deputy superintendent is vague, the work that he has produced is vague (Really, what the hell has he done?), his level of authority is vague. In total- Vague-ah is one vague dude!”
In October the whistleblowers expected Vega to leave. They wrote, “We expect that Adrian Vega will soon be history. Who in their right mind would tolerate being humiliated on an ongoing basis?”
According to the whistleblowers, Vega “was promoted to Deputy Superintendent from being a high school principal in the school district that HT came from. He had no central administration experience in Texas and we are not sure he has gained any here because he does not seem to administer anything. Of course, central administration experience seems to be of little value to HT or to the Board.”
Board member Mark Stegeman said, “I supported Vega’s original appointment on the grounds that a new superintendent needs some latitude to build his own team, but I think that in the future such appointments should be handled and vetted by the same standards as any other appointment.”
The San Benito School Board selected Waterford School Services Inc. to conduct the SBCISD superintendent search. The advertisement for the position reads in part:
The San Benito Consolidated Independent School District Board of Trustees is seeking a proven educational leader to serve as superintendent of the San Benito Consolidated Independent School District. The successful candidate must possess a good balance of academic preparation and a proven record of administrative experience. The candidate will need to be a dynamic, energetic individual who has demonstrated collaborative leadership and is effective in building and maintaining strong community support for public education. The successful candidate must be an effective instructional leader who believes that all children can learn and that every student is important.
San Benito CISD has over 11,000 students enrolled on seventeen campuses.