Regional Nominees Announced for 2023 Superintendent of the Year Award

Austin— The Texas Association of School Boards (TASB) is pleased to announce that 19 education leaders from across the state, representing districts with enrollments that range from 132 students to more than 32,000, have been named regional nominees in the annual Superintendent of the Year (SOTY) competition. 

“We want to thank all of the school boards that put their superintendents forward for consideration in this stage of the competition,” said Dan Troxell, TASB executive director. “We also applaud all of the Education Service Centers (ESC) for their hard work in reviewing the candidates and selecting a regional nominee. This award would not be possible without their participation.” 

The process to select a Superintendent of the Year begins when local school boards that are active members of TASB decide to nominate their superintendent, who must be a member of the Texas Association of School Administrators.  

School boards must pass an official resolution endorsing their superintendent in addition to completing a lengthy application. These nominations are then reviewed by each ESC, which selects one candidate based on leadership skills, dedication to improving educational quality, student performance, and commitment to public involvement in education. 

All regional superintendents then advance to the next phase of the competition, in which a committee of the TASB Board will conduct interviews to select five state finalists in late August. Those finalists will then undergo another round of interviews before the winner of the SOTY award is announced at the TASA | TASB Convention, also known as txEDCON, scheduled this year for Sept. 29-Oct. 1 in Dallas. 

This year’s regional superintendents of the year are: 

• René Gutiérrez, Brownsville ISD, Region 1  
• Judi Whitis, London ISD, Region 2 
• Larry Gajewskey, Nursery ISD, Region 3  
• Martha Salazar-Zamora, Tomball ISD, Region 4  
• Stuart Kieschnick, Nederland ISD, Region 5   
• Scott Sheppard, Huntsville ISD, Region 6  
• Wade Stanford, Westwood ISD, Region 7  
• Chad Pirtle, Pleasant Grove ISD, Region 8  
• Kevin Worthy, Royse City ISD, Region 10  
• Jim F. Chadwell, Eagle Mountain-Saginaw ISD, Region 11 
• Chris Skinner, Teague ISD, Region 12  
• Darren Webb, Lago Vista ISD, Region 13  
• Greg Decker, Rotan ISD, Region 14  
• Thomas “Todd” White, Santa Anna ISD, Region 15  
• Sheri Blankenship, Hereford ISD, Region 16  
• Kathy Rollo, Lubbock ISD, Region 17  
• Jose Lopez, Kermit ISD, Region 18  
• Xavier De La Torre, Ysleta ISD, Region 19 
• Matthew Gutierrez, Seguin ISD, Region 20