Española Public Schools Superintendent Bobbie Gutierrez has only been on the job 10 months, but she’s already making the School Board happy.
The Board members said at their Feb. 24 meeting, they were happy with the work Gutierrez has performed and approved a new one-year contract for her services.
The Board originally planned to make an announcement regarding Gutierrez’s contract at the Jan. 13 meeting, but Board President Pablo Lujan said the evaluation process took longer than expected.
“We did take a bit longer than we anticipated,” Lujan said. “But this Board is exceptionally happy with what Ms. Gutierrez has done over the last 10 months. She is making some headway, we’ve had a lot of bumpy roads and I know we have a few more ahead of us. I feel very confident in telling the public that she will be with us another year.”
Gutierrez originally said she had no plans to stay in the position beyond one year and has been at the helm of the District since last spring, after taking over from former superintendent Danny Trujillo.
She took over as head of the 14-school District in April 2015, one week after the Board fired Trujillo. Prior to that, she was superintendent for the Santa Fe School Public School District from 2008 to 2012, and was the Santa Fe District’s deputy superintendent from 2005 to 2008.
According to the terms of her contract, Gutierrez will serve as superintendent of the Española District until June 30, 2017. She will get a pay increase of $5,000 to her current $120,000 per year contract, for a total of $125,000 per year.
Some of her responsibilities include: shepherding the District through complicated litigation with Cariños Charter Schools, overseeing technology updates at the District’s various school sites and staff turnover, including the sudden suspension of Finance Director Jeanette Trujillo.
Myrna Garcia was named interim finance director and introduced herself to the Board in her new position at the Feb. 24 meeting.
“I am pleased to serve the Española Public Schools for another year,” Gutierrez said. “There are several initiatives that have been set in motion this year, and some that are in the planning stages for the coming year.”
She said there is much work to be done in the schools and that she, along with her staff, are making good, steady progress in building a stronger, more successful school system.
“I think this Board is looking forward to having her for another year and continuing the work she and her staff are doing for the whole District,” Lujan said. “Not just (at) central office, but for the elementary schools and for the high school.”
“All in all, I think she has done a great job of fixing things and she has steered us in the right direction,” Board member Ruben Archuleta said. “She was thrown in the fire and has had to make a lot of decisions, some of which have not been easy to make.”
Archuleta said Gutierrez has brought not only professionalism and experience to the District, but has also hired staff members with knowledge of grant writing and other important skills, in light of the District’s previous high-profile problems with various superintendents.
“She’s well known and respected in the state,” he said. “What I have heard a lot also from parents, is that she has addressed a lot of problems, she actually listens and cares about them and makes them feel comfortable.”
Archuleta said one good aspect to Gutierrez’s Board-approved contract is if the superintendent resigns or is terminated, the District is not obligated to pay the balance of her contract.
He alluded to the case of former Albuquerque Superintendent Luis Valentino, who became the second superintendent to be forced out as administrative head of the Albuquerque Public School District last fall, following a series of high-profile controversies involving improper background checks. Valentino’s $80,000 buyout from the District prompted legislative reforms to the state’s School Personnel Act, House Bill 41, introduced by Rep. William Rehm-R, Bernalillo County, regarding the details of employment contracts between school Boards.
Contract terms
According to the terms of the contract, it may be canceled by the Board for cause, including unsatisfactory work performance, incompetence, insubordination, physical or mental inability to perform required duties or any other good and just cause, provided that any such cancellation may be effected only in accordance with the New Mexico state statutes and any applicable rules and regulations.
Gutierrez briefed the Board members at the meeting, about her ongoing work with Special Projects Facilitator Denise Johnston on the District’s strategic planning.
She said as part of the strategic planning, she and Johnston interviewed and met with more than 500 people, including principals, middle and high school students and counselors, over the course of nearly two weeks.
Gutierrez said they were in the process of sorting out the comments that were made from the different groups at the various schools visited, as part of the instructional reviews.
She said results of the meetings and school visits will be made available to the Board after the Indian Education meetings are completed, following spring break.
Johnston is under contract by the District, for $14,000, paid from Title II expenditures from now until March 31, to assist the superintendent with grant writing, strategic planning and work dealing with the District’s Collective Bargaining Agreement.
Goals, achievements
School Board member Yolanda Salazar said she was satisfied with the superintendent’s performance and with the Board’s decision to retain her services for another year.
“For my part, I think it was a very good decision,” Salazar said. “I have been happy with the progress she has made and teachers tell us they are happy with the changes she has made at the high school.”
Salazar said one decision Gutierrez made, which the community and staff approved, was the change in the principal position at Española Valley High School.
“The students love her (Leslie Kilmer-Romero) and are really happy with the change,” she said.
Previously, the school had co-principals in Kilmer-Romero and Elizabeth Lucero, but Kilmer-Romero was made sole principal this year and Lucero was transferred to central office.
“Some students felt that the principal wasn’t very friendly,” Salazar said. “She (Lucero) would not communicate with students and staff, but it was a positive change for both the hHigh School and her new job. She seems to be happy.”
The freshman academy is another program Gutierrez introduced, which Salazar said has been highly successful.
The program is designed to determine goals for freshmen to help them with college and career decisions at an early stage in their academic careers.
“It basically helps them to develop a mindset about what they want to do with their lives,” Salazar said. “Any time you start any kind of new program, you have to continue to work for a couple of years before you can measure the results, so it’s kind of hard to measure the progress of that program. Sometimes it takes time to see the end results, but overall, I am happy with the decision that we made.”
Gutierrez’s other programs include twilight and Saturday school classes for students at risk of dropping out, or who are having a tough time adjusting to academic life and staff development and mentoring for new teachers.
She has been criticized by at least one Board member during her tenure for going along with the Board’s decision to renew County Commissioner Barney Trujillo’s $50,000 per year marketing contract, to help promote the schools.