Roaring Fork Schools this week announced the names of three finalists to replace outgoing superintendent Rob Stein.
In alphabetical order, the finalists are: Tammy Clementi who, according to a district release, has served students, teachers, and administrators since 1987; Jose “Joe” Lopez, superintendent of schools of Kermit Independent School District in Texas; and Jesús Rodriguez, deputy chief academic officer of content in the Dallas Independent School District.
We are encouraged by the quality of leaders selected as finalists. The finalists were selected from a pool of 24 applicants and after interviews and screening of six semi-finalists. We would like to thank the entire board for their leadership to date in this process.
The district also announced that the community would have an opportunity to meet each candidate before the board makes the final decision on April 27. Each finalist will be spending a full day in the community beginning with school tours in the morning, advisory committee meetings in the afternoon, and an open community forum in the evening at the Carbondale District Office. Here are the details:
Community forum with Jesús Rodriguez: Thurs, April 14 at 7 pm at the Carbondale District Office
Community forum with Jose “Joe” Lopez: Mon, April 18 at 7 pm at the Carbondale District Office
Community forum with Tammy Clementi: Tues, April 19 at 7 pm at the Carbondale District Office
We are calling on the district to double down on outreach and communications efforts to ensure that Latino families learn about these opportunities to meet the finalists. Every parent in the district -- not just some -- should know about these opportunities to meet and weigh in on the finalists. We do have serious concerns as this superintendent process has -- yet again -- exposed the district's challenges at effectively engaging Latino parents at acceptable levels.
We are also monitoring the superintendent hiring advisory committee to ensure that the membership is reflective of today's parents and families. The status quo of selecting community members for district processes instead of creating parent-friendly opportunities to involve today's parents and families in the decision-making processes of the district will no longer be acceptable to us. The district can and should do better.
As an organization, we are invested in the future of the largest minority-majority school district in the region, where almost 60% of the students are Latino. The future of all communities depend on how well our school districts support and educate all students.
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