The Chula Vista Elementary School District named former board President Eduardo Reyes as the new superintendent after conducting a meticulous recruitment process following the resignation of former superintendent Francisco Escobedo last spring.
On Tuesday, the Chula Vista Elementary School District (CVESD) school board engaged in several hours of closed-door deliberations. The board announced their decision on Wednesday in a press release.
Reyes, the chief human resources officer at Sweetwater Union High School District (SUHSD), was selected out of a pool of 23 applicants for the position. There are 49 schools under the district, which has about 28,000 students.
Reyes' appointment as superintendent does not surprise many. During a July 14 board meeting, he publicly stated his intent to apply and motioned for immediate resignation as board president.
He was elected as CVESD board president in November 2014 with a term that would have ended in 2022. Reyes sat on the CVESD board of education for seven years.
Reyes is a South Bay resident of 40 years and has been the SUHSD Chief Human Resources Officer since Fall 2020. Before holding that position, he was an educator at SUHSD for over 26 years and principal at San Ysidro High School.
Chula Vista’s former superintendent, Francisco Escobedo is currently the executive director at a San Diego-based education think tank.
The Chula Vista Elementary School District was named as a “Positive Outlier” by the Learning Policy Institute under Escobedo’s leadership, for "beating the odds" in the face of socioeconomic conditions within the community.
“He was a great leader and has moved our district forward. We have become a district of excellence. An outlier of districts,” Reyes said of Dr. Francisco Escobedo before resigning as board president.
Community members have vocalized concern that SUHSD employees holding leadership roles at CVESD would tarnish the legacy left behind by Escobedo since SUHSD has been audited for financial fraud and involved in a scandal.
Both, CVESD board president President Lucy Ugarte and board member Cesar Fernandez, are SUHSD teachers.
