Española School District Superintendent Bobbie Gutierrez named former Española Valley High School English teacher John Sena as the principal of one of the District’s most troubled elementary schools.
Sena is finishing a master’s degree in educational leadership, at the University of New Mexico and has never worked as a principal, assistant principal or in any other administrative capacity.
Gutierrez assigned Sena, Sept. 18, to replace former principal Isabella Terrazas as the leader of Hernandez Elementary School, after she was demoted and sent back to Española Elementary, to be a school teacher.
Terrazas will retain the $63,880 she earned as a principal. She didn’t respond to phone and email messages, by presstime, requesting comment.
Sena said he has been on the job a few days and he hasn’t had time to determine what needs to be done to address the issues at the school.
“The truth of the matter is, it is a little too early to say,” he said when asked what he would do to improve student outcomes. “The school has been through a lot, not just this school year, but last school year as well, when they had the shuffling of the administrators.”
Sena is the school’s sixth administrator, since Gutierrez’s predecessor, former superintendent Eric Martinez, received widespread criticism for reassigning several principals eight weeks into the first semester of the 2016-17 School Year.
The school earned Fs on the report cards for the 2015-16 and 2016-17 School Years and for the most part, the students’ test scores were lower than their peers at most of the District’s other elementary schools — except for Sombrillo.
Sombrillo earned Fs for the past three years and the test scores are nearly identical to the Hernandez students’ scores.
Sena said although he doesn’t have any concrete plans for addressing the dismal test scores, he would like to work on making teachers feel appreciated.
“Morale is something I want to address and for teachers to know my main intention is to support them and, in turn, to support students,” he said. “How we do that exactly, I don’t know. There is some work to be done.”
Sena said the community is ready to put an end to the revolving door of administrators who have worked at the school through the years.
“I will say, and not that I am the person for it, the community is hungry for consistency and stability,” he said. “Like every other community, they want the best for their kids. I am going to do my best to help the school improve.”
Sena will earn approximately $50,103 this year as the Hernandez principal, compared to the $42,005 he earned as a Level II teacher.
Gutierrez said she thought Sena would be a good fit, after being impressed with his understanding of the training principals need, to conduct teacher evaluations.
“I recertified our principals for evaluations and we had to go through two calibration exercises,” she said. “Then sit down with our colleagues and discuss what was good and what we thought wasn’t so good and his comments were right on.”
Calibration exercises are conducted to ensure evaluators use a consistent set of standards to appraise the work performance of those they supervise.
Gutierrez also cited Sena’s organizational skills, ability to listen and leadership qualities, as attributes that makes him a good fit to lead the school.
“A principal has to be firm, fair and consistent with students and staff,” she wrote in a Sept. 24 email interview. “Again, I have observed John in interactions with students and his colleagues in which firm, fair and consistent has always been noted.”
Gutierrez said she plans to petition the New Mexico Public Education Department for a provisional administrator’s license for Sena.
If granted, the provisional license would last for four years, or until Sena completes all of the administrative licensure requirements.
According to the provisional licensure application, Gutierrez must demonstrate, among other things, that there is a “shortage of qualified candidates” to serve as a the school’s principal. She must also explain why she thinks Sena has the potential to be an effective principal.
Citing Sena’s lack of experience, Board member Pablo Lujan criticized Gutierrez’s move during the Sept. 20 meeting.
He said, given the school’s performance, as outlined on the annual report card, he believes a more experienced administrator should have been given an opportunity to apply for the position.
“It is a political position,” he said. “I never saw it advertised anywhere. Was there no one else in the District who could have filled that position?”
District Human Resources Director Esther Romero said Gutierrez used her discretion to appoint Sena to the position without advertising it or interviewing additional candidates.
Gutierrez said although she knew her decision “would attract criticism,” she stands by her choice because she believes Sena would give Hernandez the fresh start it needs.
“We needed to make a change,” she said. “It was an F school and it needed a shot in the arm.”
Lujan said the move is a quid pro quo for the support Sena gave her during her first tenure, and when she resigned her position, after being pressured by the Board, when Lujan was the president.
Gutierrez said Sena was supposed to work as an administrative intern at the high school, but that plan never came to fruition. Working at the elementary school would be a good opportunity that gives him a wide array of experience to start his administrative career.
“He thought it would be one thing at the high school and it didn’t turn out to be that,” she said. “At the end of the day, we were trying to find an administrative internship for him and this seemed to be a good match.”
Gutierrez said she and Deputy Superintendent Leslie Kilmer will supervise Sena.
Serving as the school’s principal will give Sena more than enough administrative intern hours to finish his degree.