Socorro Independent School District selects new superintendent

The Socorro Independent School District has already started its fall semester and getting a new superintendent to fill the vacant seat has been a priority.

Dr. Joe Espinoza was among three finalists for the job, which had a pool of more than30 candidates.

Considering the boom in new students the SISD is seeing right now, the selection of a new superintendent couldn’t come soon enough for the district.

“He is a well qualified candidate,” said the president of the SISD school board, Michael Najera. He told us their new pick for superintendent didn’t come easy.
“We’re fortunate to have the two candidates that made the decision so difficult,”said Najera.

One of the finalists, Michael Sorum, the one who got the job — Espinoza.

School board members traveled to Houston to interview Epinoza’s colleagues at Houston Independent School District. The purpose of the visits, is for the board committee to meet first-hand with stakeholder groups who work closely with the candidates.

Once the committee talked to his colleagues, Micheal Najera said, they were convinced. “He’s very well respected, he advanced the academic outcome of the Houston Independent School District and we just felt that he was a good fit for the district,” said Najera.

Espinoza’s been a counselor, a teacher, an assistant principal, a principal and a district administrator and as the school improvement officer at Houston ISD, he supervised and counseled principals to meet district goals and focus on student academic growth.

SISD officials said the decision had a lot to do with who they felt would best push the district forward into the future. “Ultimately it was about you know who could help us who could motivate the wonderful leadership we have and ready get us to the next level continue to build on our progress,” said Najera.

District officials tell us Espinoza won’t start right away, there’s a state mandated 21-day wait period until he begins the job.