Dr. Gutierrez gets nomination for Superintendent of the Year

Seguin, TX, USA / Seguin Today
Cindy Aguirre

(Seguin) — Seguin ISD’s top administrator has picked up a nomination for this year’s Texas Association of School Board’s Superintendent of the Year Award. Extending that nomination to Dr. Matthew Gutierrez was the Seguin ISD Board of Trustees.

Dr. Gutierrez says he was both surprised and grateful for the recognition.

“I do want to share that it was absolutely unexpected. I did not realize that our board president had initiated the process and I was nominated several years ago for Region Superintendent of the Year. I did not advance because, of course, it is very competitive. You’ve got a lot of amazing superintendents in this area but I was certainly appreciative of just the process beginning and when the board took action and ultimately made the decision to nominate me for the TASB Superintendent of the Year, I was very thankful for their vote of faith in my leadership and confidence in my leadership and recognizing just everything that we have accomplished not just over the past year but over the past six years in the Seguin ISD,” said Gutierrez.

The overwhelming majority of the board voted to support the nomination, with a 6-1 vote during last week’s meeting. The lone dissenting vote came from the newest school board member. Trustee Josh Bright says his vote against the nomination was based strictly on the district’s challenges in meeting the mark regarding the state’s accountability ratings. Bright says his vote does not diminish Dr. Gutierrez’s overall positive impact on the district.

“That is completely not at all what I have been saying or what I have said. Dr. Gutierrez has been an excellent superintendent. He has done a fantastic job. I do think that when we get to the rating that they’ve all been working for, this nomination will be 100 percent duly noted and I’ll be the first to make the motion for his to get this award. I just don’t think we are there yet that we can actually put forth this nomination and say he’s going to get this based off of the student performance scores that we’ve had the last few years. I also know that this board has nominated him the last two prior years before this year and there was significant improvement from last year to this year on our accountability There was significant improvement last year. I just don’t think we’ve reached that pinnacle moment where we are like ‘yup, this is it. This is the time,” said Bright.

Trustee Denise Crettenden was part of the majority that supported the nomination. Crettenden says academic gains have been made, but that only tells part of the story. She says the overall performance of Dr. Gutierrez is worthy of this kind of recognition.

“I think many many things go into nominating a superintendent. I think that they know that school districts are much more than just those accountability ratings. They are the lives of those students — their current lives and their future lives. It’s everything that goes into taking care of our students and not just academically — making sure that they are fed, making sure that they are safe, and helping with their mental health. There is so much that goes into ensuring a great education and I think that when they look at superintendents for this kind of award, they look at the whole picture and I think with all the accolades that Seguin has gotten and all the programs that we’ve added in CTE, in fine arts and so many things — I think those all speak well of the leadership of Dr. Gutierrez,” said Crettenden.

Dr. Gutierrez says he’s thankful of the board’s overall support, but he knows that the work that they are doing must continue for students, teachers and families in the Seguin ISD.

“And what I really do appreciate them acknowledging is that our students are more than just a test score. So much goes into educating the whole child and we’ve made huge strides academically and in so many other areas. In fact, we had the highest performing academic school year since 2010 with many of our campuses moving up a letter grade or two and to me, it meant a lot for them to acknowledge that work but to acknowledge the work that I have done in tapping two bonds — one being very historic, the largest ever in Seguin ISD history with Bond 2022 and just acknowledging what I’ve done as far as community relationships, fiscal management and just overall leadership that I’ve provided in the district and so, I am just very humbled by their action and I look forward to being a part of this process for Region 20,” said Gutierrez.

The nomination now puts Dr. Gutierrez in the running for Region Superintendent of the Year, followed by State Superintendent of the Year.
Dr. Gutierrez has served as superintendent of schools for the Seguin ISD since July 2017.

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