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Sheridan’s college board voted this month to pick its subsequent superintendent: Gionni Thompson was accredited in a 3-1 vote.
It was the board’s third try over the previous 12 months at deciding on a brand new chief for the small college district bordering Denver.
The Sheridan college board is meant to have 5 members however has had a vacant seat for greater than a 12 months now. All through the superintendent search course of, the 4 sitting board members have been evenly break up.
First, the district was contemplating appointing the only inner candidate beneficial by the outgoing superintendent. However two board members wished to open up a nationwide search.
After launching the search and ending up with three finalists earlier this spring, the board was unable to comply with a majority vote on any candidate. So it got here up with a brand new listing of finalists.
Out of fewer than 40 survey responses the district acquired on this spherical, largely from district workers, Thompson had the fewest factors in favor.
Board President Daniel Stange and Karla Najera, who was the lone vote towards Thompson, imagine that the Sheridan district wants a Latino chief, maybe one who speaks Spanish, who can advocate for Spanish-speaking mother and father who usually really feel omitted. The opposite two board members have disagreed on the significance of that type of illustration. Thompson will not be Latino.
The problem goes again to the number of the outgoing superintendent, Pat Sandos. There once more, the group was break up, with many serious about one other candidate they thought could possibly be a greater advocate for Spanish-speaking households.
Stange mentioned Thompson wasn’t his first decide, however he voted for him to keep away from one other stalemate.
“I had heard some good suggestions for him,” Stange mentioned. “He appears to be very educated.”
Thompson, most lately an govt director overseeing 16 colleges within the Boulder Valley Faculty District, introduced himself as an skilled educator who received into the sphere of schooling after seeing the disparities. He received his doctorate of schooling from the College of Colorado in Denver in 2020.
Thompson described himself because the “the fifth of six youngsters born in Colorado to an Italian immigrant mom and an African American father.”
“As a baby, I witnessed firsthand the boundaries my household confronted in accessing a proper schooling. Seeing this, I developed my dedication to making sure that each particular person, no matter their background, has entry to the life-changing energy of schooling and the flexibility to satisfy their aspirations and goals,” Thompson wrote in his supplies to the board.
In his software, he boasted about enhancements he helped lead amongst colleges within the Boulder district in addition to in his time as principal of Lester Arnold, an alternate highschool in Adams 14.
Thompson mentioned if chosen, he would take heed to the group earlier than creating a plan.
Sheridan, a tiny district bordering Denver, enrolled simply over 1,000 college students this 12 months, of which greater than 77% are Hispanic and a few third are studying English as a brand new language. Final 12 months’s enrollment was 1,125. The district additionally has a excessive proportion of scholars experiencing homelessness, this 12 months at about 14%.
The Sheridan district should now negotiate a contract with Thompson after which vote on that.
Stange mentioned the board hopes Thompson can begin quickly. Sandos’ present contract, which was described as a transition 12 months after his retirement, goes by way of the top of Might.
Yesenia Robles is a reporter for Chalkbeat Colorado protecting Okay-12 college districts and multilingual schooling. Contact Yesenia at yrobles@chalkbeat.org.
