Local A Semifinalist For Top Job In State's Biggest School District

Almi Abeyta, who works for Santa Fe Public Schools, is one of six semifinalists for ABQ Superintendent

A Santa Fe resident is one of six semifinalists for superintendent of the state's largest school district.

Almi Abeyta, deputy superintendent for teaching and learning at Santa Fe Public Schools, tells SFR that she wants to bring the local school district's recent successes to APS. In Santa Fe, that includes adding Advanced Placement courses in the high schools, starting an International Baccalaureate school, increasing the graduation rate and opening alternative learning programs like Twilight Schools, which allows students to attend school between 4 pm and 7 pm.

"We're going in the right direction," Abeyta says.

Abeyta comes with 18 years of working experience in education as a teacher, a principal and an assistant superintendent. Abeyta came to SFPS in 2012 under Superintendent Joel Boyd. Before then, she worked in Boston Public Schools for 10 years.

Like Boyd, Abeyta's a graduate of the Urban Superintendents Program at Harvard University, the same school where she also earned a doctorate in education.

She's also originally from Albuquerque and went through the public school system there.

Winston Brooks, APS' previous superintendent, wasn't known for getting along with state Public Education Department Secretary Hanna Skandera. Abeyta says that she would work to have a professional relationship with the department.

"If you disagree on something, you say it in a polite way," she says. "That's something I learned working with Joel [Boyd]."

She adds that she thinks teacher evaluations "can be a really good thing" if "used in the right way." To her, that means not making evaluations "punitive, but something you can grow from." Abeyta says it's also important how districts roll out the evaluations.

Another SFPS administrator, James Lujan, also applied for the APS position but didn't make it to the list of semifinalists. SFR spoke to Lujan, assistant superintendent for equity and instruction, shortly before the shortlist was released publicly.

"I respect Dr. Abeyta so much that for me, I would be very happy if Dr. Abeyta was given the opportunity," he says.

George Otero, who runs the Center For RelationaLearning, an educational consulting nonprofit here in town, also applied but didn't make the semifinalist list.

A total of 59 people originally applied to the APS position.

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