LCPS hires interim Ralph Ramos as new superintendent

UPDATE: By a 4-1 vote on Tuesday evening, the Las Cruces Public Schools board hired interim superintendent Ralph Ramos as the new permanent superintendent. Board member Terrie Dallman was the lone dissent.  

Ramos will be paid $180,000 annually, with his two-year contract running through June 2023.

“I want to thank you for having confidence in me,” Ramos said following the vote. “It’s not about me, it’s about creating a better place for our students. It’s time to get to work.”

ORIGINAL REPORT: LAS CRUCES, New Mexico -- Following the tragic and untimely death of Las Cruces Public Schools Superintendent Karen Trujillo, school board members were announce the next leader of the district on Tuesday.

In late May, the district of 25,000 students announced two finalists for the position: Ralph Ramos and Oscar Rico.

The board appointed Ramos to lead the district on a temporary basis as interim superintendent in March while the district searched for a permanent superintendent. He is the former principal of Camino Real Middle School. Ramos has his bachelor’s and master's degrees from New Mexico State University.

Rico serves as the director of information technology for the Canutillo Independent School District. For the past 18 years, he has served in different educational leadership roles, including assistant principal at Franklin High School in the El Paso Independent School District and principal of Jose J. Alderete Middle School in CISD.

In late February, the district lost a lifelong educator who it said "fought for kids," then-superintendent Karen Trujillo. She was struck and killed in her neighborhood while walking her dogs.

Her husband said "she was the best teammate you could have."