In what clearly is not a stunning development, the HISD board has announced its finalist for superintendent:
The Houston Independent School District’s board named interim Superintendent Abelardo Saavedra as the person it wants to succeed Kaye Stripling as superintendent of the nation’s seventh-largest school district.
Saavedra emerged from a field of 22 candidates as the sole finalist today after an interview. He was one of four semifinalists. The board plans to vote on Stripling’s successor Dec. 9.
Those quality candidates HISD brought in sure gave Saavedra a run for it. Look, Saavedra may indeed be the best person for the job, but conducting a less than half-hearted search doesn’t benefit the students and parents of HISD. Saavedra should have been made to fight for the job, to rise to the level of the challenge. Instead the outcome was almost predetermined with some board members making it clear that Saavedra was their first choice.
This is an AP story, but it’s pretty much taken straight from the HISD press release, quotes and all. I would assume that Jason Spencer of the Chronicle will have an actual story in tomorrow’s paper.
UPDATE: The link at the top of this post now takes you to the Chronicle-authored story, not the AP press release story.
