Former Washoe County superintendent Pedro Martinez, who is currently heading up Nevada Gov. Brian Sandoval’s proposed “achievement school district,” will decamp to San Antonio, Texas, to become that district’s new superintendent.
The San Antonio school board voted earlier this week to appoint Martinez superintendent of the 55,000-student district. His compensation and terms of employment, including his start date, will be discussed at a later meeting, The Reno Gazette-Journal reported.
Martinez was the lone finalist after his competitor, Scott Muri, a deputy superintendent in Fulton County, Ga., dropped out of the running, according to The Reno Gazette-Journal. (Fulton County’s own superintendent Robert Avossa is leaving for Palm Beach County schools in Florida, where he will start in June and become the highest-paid school superintendent in that state.)
In January, Gov. Sandoval appointed Martinez as the superintendent-in-residence to help set up the proposed “achievement school district,” which will consist of the state’s lowest-performing schools.
Despite that, Martinez has been actively job-hunting. Before the San Antonio appointment, he was among the four finalists to run the Boston school system. That job went to Tommy Chang of the Los Angeles Unified School District.
Martinez worked in Chicago and Clark County, Nev., before becoming superintendent in Washoe County in 2012. He left the Washoe County district in 2014 after a dispute with the school board. During a meeting that was later deemed to be in violation of the state’s open meetings law, the board tried to fire Martinez over allegations that he had falsified his accounting credentials. Martinez sued, and the district eventually paid out a $700,000 settlement.