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Arlington ISD announces 'steadfast' pick for new superintendent

Michelle Cavazos is the lone finalist to lead Arlington ISD. She currently is superintendent of Gregory-Portland ISD, the small district near Corpus Christi.
Gregory-Portland ISD
Michelle Cavazos is the lone finalist to lead Arlington ISD. She currently is superintendent of Gregory-Portland ISD, the small district near Corpus Christi.

Current Gregory-Portland ISD Superintendent Michelle Cavazos is the Arlington school board's lone pick for the district's next leader. She'd replace outgoing Superintendent Marcelo Cavazos, who is retiring after serving the district 11 years.

The Arlington Independent School District this week named the lone finalist to be its next superintendent.

Arlington school board members unanimously chose current Gregory-Portland Superintendent Michelle Cavazos.

Arlington ISD has nearly 60,000 students, Gregory-Portland not quite 5,000 — but Arlington ISD school board president Melody Fowler says she isn’t worried, because Cavazos was a Leadership and Academics administrator in the much larger Austin ISD.

Equally important to the roles Cavazos has filled in urban and rural districts, Fowler said, is that she filled them in Texas.

We felt like we needed someone who had experience in Texas, who understands the curriculum in Texas, who understands the STAAR test, (someone who) would have a feel for the environment, feel for the people," Fowler said. "And so that was a plus for us."

A statement from Arlington ISD said Cavazos earned a bachelor’s degree from Northern Iowa, a master’s degree from the University of Houston, and a doctoral degree from Texas State University in School Improvement.

About her appointment, Cavazos said in the statement she was honored to join Arlington ISD.

“I look forward to getting to know everyone while working collaboratively with our Trustees, staff, families and community.”

Fowler points to other attributes that launched Cavazos to the top of the trustees' list: One, she’s fluent in Spanish, in a district with many Spanish speakers. And she’s not easily flustered.

“She's very stable,” Fowler said. “She's very thoughtful. She just has this steadfast presence about her, she has a calm demeanor.

"And we felt like that would be very helpful because in education, you never know what's coming down the pike and what you might be faced with.”

State law requires a 21-day waiting period before Cavazos can officially take the superintendent job.

She replaces Arlington’s outgoing superintendent, Marcelo Cavazos (no relation). In January he announced his retirement after 11 years in the district.

Bill Zeeble has been a full-time reporter at KERA since 1992, covering everything from medicine to the Mavericks and education to environmental issues.