The Española School Board is slightly ahead of the NCAA men’s basketball tournament.
While the tournament is in the round of the “Sweet Sixteen,” the Board has narrowed its search for a new superintendent to an “Elite Eight.”
Board President Leonard Valerio said the Board has chosen the top seven candidates suggested by a Board-appointed screening committee and added one choice of their own, who he refused to name.
The committee met March 16 and the Board chose the eight quarterfinalists March 18.
Four of the eight live in Española. They are Mesa Vista High School Principal Janette Archuleta, Española School District Interim Special Education Director Alfred Garcia, Española School District Title I Director Evelyn Maruska and Rio Arriba Democratic Chairwoman and Northern New Mexico College Regent Theresa Martinez. State Assistant Secretary of Education James Holloway, who lives in Santa Fe, is the only other finalist from New Mexico.
The three out-of-state finalists are: Edward Gabaldon, who works as the chief of staff for the El Paso Independent School District; Gilbert Barraza, who lives in El Centro, Calif. and is the principal at Calexico High School; and Richard Hebhardt, who works as an educational consultant for the Alaska Education Department in Juneau.
Valerio said the District will make further cuts over the next month and announce four semifinalists April 21. The four will be interviewed the next day in two-hour blocks starting at 8 a.m. and concluding at 5 p.m. That evening, Valerio said the Board will select two finalists.
A public forum will be held April 23 at 4 p.m. at Española Middle School where the two finalist will field questions by members of the public.
After the forum, Valerio said the Board will evaluate the finalist’s in executive session and then choose the new superintendent. The Board will make it official with a formal vote after the executive session.
The next superintendent will replace David Cockerham, whose contract ends June 30.