Who has applied to be the next APS superintendent? Here's the list

Albuquerque Public Schools has posted its roster of people vying to succeed outgoing Superintendent Scott Elder.

Now, it’s up to the school board who will make the final cut.

Twenty-four people have applied for Elder’s seat, according to a list released by APS on Friday. The deadline for applications was Tuesday.

The board’s plan is to meet the second week of January to choose semifinalists — how many is to be determined — then narrow that list to a set of finalists for the job the week after, Board Services Executive Director Johanna King said.

Board President Yolanda Montoya-Cordova said a community town hall with the finalists is scheduled for Jan. 30, and the board will hold an executive session the following day to choose Elder’s successor.

Elder’s contract as the leader of the state’s largest district expires June 30.

At least three of the applications came from people already working in APS: Chief of Schools Channell Segura, Chief Operations Officer Gabriella Blakey and Highland High School Principal Marco Harris.

Segura has experience as a superintendent. According to her résumé, she came to APS after spending about two years as superintendent of Truth or Consequences Municipal Schools.

While Segura told the Journal her family pushed her to apply for Elder’s position, she said her decision to apply also came from her drive to “best serve students.”

“My goal has always been to put myself in positions where I can break down barriers that prevent kids from achieving their best. … I've done some of that in the position that I'm in, (and) I feel like I can bring a greater push as a superintendent,” Segura said.

Blakey said her decision to throw her hat in the ring was, at first, a difficult one because it’s “hard to put yourself out there.” But as someone who came up through APS, she feels she has the experience to effect change in the district.

“(I) care a lot about the kids and our community, and I feel like I know exactly where we are and where the levers are of what we need to do as a community to better outcomes for our students,” Blakey said.

Before ascending to the superintendent seat, Elder was in Blakey’s current position as the district’s chief operations officer.

Harris has been Highland’s principal since 2014, according to his résumé, and has been with the district since 1996. In his time at Highland, Harris said he feels he’s already begun to implement the goals of the current board, which center around improving achievement among underserved students, better preparing students for life after high school and developing life skills.

“I believe a lot of the work … which has been charged by the board through the goals and guardrails, I think I've truly (implemented) in a practical sense, and in some respects, maybe have a model that I could leverage to try to bring forward to APS in total,” he said.

Harris added that as superintendent, he would aim to do a better job of equitably listening to people on the ground.

Other in-state applicants include Gadsden Independent School District Superintendent Travis Dempsey; Juanita Becenti, former Dulce Independent School District superintendent; Lillian Torrez, former Taos Municipal Schools superintendent; and Greg Rockhold, an administrator at Hobbs Municipal Schools.

Among the 15 out-of-state applicants is former Maryland State Superintendent of Education Mohammed Choudhury. As state superintendent, Maryland’s equivalent of New Mexico’s public education secretary, Choudhury says in his résumé he oversaw more than 1,400 public schools enrolling nearly 900,000 students.

According to The Baltimore Sun, Choudhury stepped down from his post in early October after previously telling the Maryland State Board of Education he wanted to stay. Earlier this year, The Sun reported, he was accused of creating a toxic workplace by some former employees.

The APS board will take up its next discussion on its search for a new superintendent during Wednesday’s board meeting.