Española Valley High School could have a new athletic director by next week.
A selection committee, which evaluated and interviewed the five applicants who meet the qualifications for the position, returned the applications June 5, outgoing Española School District Superintendent David Cockerham said.
Cockerham said incoming Superintendent Janette Archuleta will participate in the selection process, and he will make a decision June 15 based on her recommendation.
“(Archuleta) will possibly reinterview two or three of the top candidates and then make her decision,” Cockerham said. “Whatever she decides will be the person who gets the job.”
The committee did not interview three of the eight candidates that applied for the position because they lacked a state Administrator’s License, one of the requirements for the position. The chosen candidate is required to have a master’s degree and administrator’s license.
Those applicants not interviewed were: Ryan Cordova, former assistant boys basketball coach at Española and former head boys basketball coach at Gallup High School; Joe Moulton, former athletic manager at Capital High School in Santa Fe; and Gil Gonzales, assistant girls basketball coach at St. Michaels High School.
Of the five candidates interviewed, two have previous connections with Española Schools, including one former athletic director at Española Valley. Both have administrator’s licenses.
Theresa Flores served as athletic director from 2000-04 and is presently assistant principal and athletic coordinator at Española Middle School. She received a master’s degree from New Mexico Highlands University in 1980 and has taught in District schools for 25 years.
David Leroy Lucero retired in 2008 after serving as principal at Dixon and Mountain View Elementary schools from 2005-08. He was with the Peñasco School District from 1985 to 2004 and has two master’s degrees. He received a master’s in Administration from Highlands in 1991 and a master’s in 1997 from the University of New Mexico in Integrating Technology in Schools. Lucero was a freelance writer for the SUN’s sports section this past winter.
The other three applicants are presently serving in other school districts in New Mexico. One will receive his administrator’s license this summer, the other two are already licensed.
Greg Marez has been a mathematics teacher at Rio Rancho Mid-High School since 2005 and was an administrative intern at Rio Rancho from 2007-08. He has also worked in the Moriarty and Ruidoso school districts and was head girls basketball coach at Ruidoso 2001-05. Marez received a master’s degree from Highlands in educational leadership in 2008. He will receive his administrator’s license this summer.
Craig DeYoung is principal at Aldo Leopold Charter High School in Silver City. He received a master’s degree from Western New Mexico University in 1985 and has worked in the Valverde Unified School District in Perris, Calif., and the Lakeville Independent School District in Lakeville, Minn. He began teaching in 1980 at Silver High School.
Gary Thompson was principal from 2008-09 at Hot Springs High School in Truth or Consequences. He received a master’s degree from Wayne State University in 1974 and was athletic director in 1998-99 at Gallup High School. He spent four years selling insurance before returning to education at Hot Springs. He was a special education teacher at Laguna High School 2002-2004 prior to selling insurance.
Cockerham said that the athletic director’s salary would be between $50,000 to $75,000, depending on the experience and qualifications of the applicant chosen.