School board names three finalists

The Socorro Consolidated School Board held a special meeting to address a violation of the Open Meetings Act during its regular meeting on December 2, the board named three finalists for superintendent: Alan Edmonson, Joyce Gormely and Kim Ortiz.

“I would just like to acknowledge that the purpose of this meeting, this special meeting was to correct a procedural error and our violation of the Open Meetings Act. I do think that this process violated the trust of our constituencies, and it’s going to be harder to build that up,” Sharon Sessions, vice chair said at the conclusion of the Special Monday morning meeting.

After an executive session at the special meeting to review the superintendent candidate finalist list from the stakeholder committee, the board returned to open session. The first action item on the agenda was to accept the candidates recommended by the stakeholder committee.

The stakeholder committee was composed of two administrators, one certified staff, one classified staff, two district parents, one community member, and one union officer. The committee was part of the interview process conducted by Sessions in November.

The board unanimously voted to accept the two candidates recommended by the committee, Alan Edmonson and Joyce Gormely.

“I would also just like to recognize that in accepting these two candidates, we recognize they are qualified for the position and that the board is accepting their prior experience for the position, and they will receive our full consideration as candidates for superintendent,” Sessions said.

The school board was split on accepting a third candidate in the second action item.

Board President Dave Hicks and Sessions asked Aubrey Tucker, Superintendent, if it was an appropriate time to name the third candidate.

“It is up to the board to recognize who the candidate is, but it is not privileged information. It must be done in the daylight. Can you make the motion that an additional (candidate) from that pool is available? Yes, for clarity’s sake, I would recommend that you identify that person, but it is not necessary,” Tucker said.

Sessions named the third candidate was Kim Ortiz.

“I would just like to clarify then that a yes vote on this means that we are including Kim Ortiz as one of the final candidates, and a no vote means that we’ll be moving forward with two candidates that were recommended by the stakeholder committee,” Sessions said.

In a three-two split vote with Kathleen Ocampo, Pauline Jaramillo and Tara Jaramillo in favor and Hicks and Sessions against, Kim Ortiz was accepted as the third superintendent candidate along with Alan Edmonson and Joyce Gormely.

As outlined in the timeline approved by the board, interviews with the finalists for the superintendent position are scheduled to occur this week. The board aims to finalize and approve the appointment of the new superintendent during their meeting scheduled for December 16. Superintendent Tucker will conclude his tenure on December 12.