Freeman to retire from post

El Defensor Chieftain Staff

   Cynthia Freeman, the assistant superintendent for Socorro Consolidated School District, is retiring in September.

   The announcement came after Tuesday's school board closed its session.

   Freeman said she is retiring because her husband, Robert Chadd, has been ill, and she wants to take time off to be with him.

   Freeman was appointed as assistant superintendent in 1997.

   As of Thursday, no one had been selected to replace Freeman.

   Freeman, a former principal at Zimmerly Elementary School, said she feels good about stepping down, but will miss her job and especially the students.

   "I missed the kids at Zimmerly, but I was able to work with them at a different level (as assistant superintendent)," she said.

   Freeman said she is proud to have been a part of Socorro School Consolidated District.

   "I see very positive direction, and I think our kids are some of the strongest in the state," she said. "Having a son who went on to graduate from Princeton, I think Socorro High prepared him well."

   She'd spent 16 years in the Socorro School District.

   Board member Hal Dotson Jr. called Freeman a stabilizing influence in the district.

   "She was very competent," Dotson said. "She allowed everything to run smoothly in the district. It's a matter of the heart. I can't blame her for wanting to be with family. Any of us would."

   Freeman began teaching fifth grade at Zimmerly in 1988.

   She has worked in other districts in New Mexico, including Moriarty and Hagerman, and also in Fabens, Texas.