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Trustees for the San Antonio Independent School District voted 5-2 to name Adrian Bustillos lone finalist for superintendent Wednesday.
Bustillos is currently the Chief Transformation Officer at Aldine ISD, a district in the Houston area with more than 50,000 students.
Board President Alicia Sebastian said the selection process was not easy “especially (with) the state of the district and current affairs.”
“I'm very proud to serve a board that (understands) the challenges that we have in front of us,” Sebastian said. “We had a lot of amazing people, a lot of qualified candidates who wanted to be a partner in this work, which I think is reflective of the resilience and the belief that people still have in our community.”
Bustillos began his career teaching in 2006 in El Paso ISD. In 2017, while working as an assistant superintendent in El Paso, he was sanctioned by the Texas Education Agency for his role in an alleged cheating scheme, resulting in a one-year suspension of his state educator certificate.
SAISD trustee Jacob Ramos pointed to that sanction as one reason he voted against Bustillos.
“I have concerns. He was involved in a cheating scandal in El Paso ISD when he was an assistant principal, that's a concern,” Ramos said. “He was sanctioned by TEA, and he was suspended by TEA. He had his certificate pulled.”
Responding to Trustee Art Valdez’s charge for everyone to get behind the new superintendent, Ramos said he’ll “move on,” but that he was concerned that Bustillos doesn’t have enough people working with him in central office to run the district, and that he doesn’t have a superintendent certificate yet.
Trustees Mike Villarreal and Ed Garza both said they had confidence in Bustillo despite his previous sanction.
“Are there any perfect candidates? No. Are there any perfect school board members? No. So we have to take into context what each candidate brought, what they offered, and I'm just grateful that we had such a deep pool of individuals that want to lead the San Antonio school district in this next chapter,” Garza said. “I am confident in the leadership of Mr. Bustillos, Dr. Bustillos, his track record in Aldine, his journey from El Paso, Texas, his cultural ties to the community that we serve, and I think people over the next 21 days, as they meet Dr. Bustillos, will see what a majority of this board saw.”
“No candidate is perfect. The concerns that were raised by Trustee Ramos were taken seriously and were looked into, and I can share for myself and others that I have 100% confidence in Adrian Bust(ill)os,” Villarreal said. “I think he is going to bring great energy, enthusiasm, and help us raise all the boats in SAISD, so that our children receive the excellent education they deserve.”
Sebastian also later said she was not concerned that Bustillos does not have his superintendent certificate yet.
“There are a lot of candidates who do not yet have their superintendent certification, that does not make them not qualified,” she said.
According to his LinkedIn profile, Bustillos has a PhD in curriculum and instruction from New Mexico State University.
Bustillos has worked for several years in offices that partner with outside organizations and charter operators to improve student outcomes, both at Aldine and El Paso ISD. He also worked with TEA on the Systems of Great Schools effort at El Paso ISD, another initiative that encourages outside partnerships.
Trustee Stephanie Torres also voted against the motion to name Bustillos the lone finalist. She said she felt that Bustillos only “checked boxes” for certain parts of the community.
“We didn't guarantee all those checked boxes, we only checked certain ones, certain ones that valid(ate) certain communities, and I'm sorry, we had better candidates to pick from,” Torres said. “We're going to have to get behind him, we're going to have to rally up because he is our (finalist), but you hold us to it, please, community. You come out and you give us all the feedback; you tell us where we're slipping.”
Under Texas state law, lone finalists for superintendent must wait 21 days before officially being appointed to the position.
Outgoing superintendent Jaime Aquino transitions to Superintendent Emeritus on July 1, where he will serve as an advisor to the new superintendent until January.
SAISD Chief of Staff Toni Thompson will serve as interim superintendent for the first few weeks of July until Bustillos can officially be appointed to the permanent role.
