San Benito school board goes with Fred Perez as superintendent finalist

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SAN BENITO — After a two-month statewide search, the school board Friday unanimously selected acting Superintendent Alfredo “Fred” Perez as the finalist for the district’s superintendent job.

After a three-hour closed session meeting, board members picked Perez from a short list after narrowing a field of 27 candidates.

Now, board members are waiting through a state-mandated 30-day period before Perez would take office.

Perez has served as acting superintendent since last September, when the past school board appointed him to the job after former Superintendent Theresa Servellon resigned three weeks following her suspension.

“Fred’s greatest attributes were shown in the past 10 months,” board President Orlando Lopez said after the meeting, noting much of the district’s staff supports Perez. “He pretty much stabilized the district and created a positive culture and working and learning environment.”

After working 20 years in education, Perez was serving as the district’s Migrant and Federal Programs director when he took over as acting superintendent.

During his 16-year district tenure, Perez served as San Benito High School’s assistant principal, Miller Jordan Middle School’s principal and Gateway to Graduation Academy’s principal after working as a special education teacher and special education program coordinator.

“I look forward to the challenge,” Perez said after the board’s vote, noting his wife and son work as teachers here. “I am grateful to have the opportunity to continue to lead this district. I’ve made very good connections with the board members. We have a goal and we’re working toward that. It starts at the top and it flows down to the administration, straight down to the teachers and right to the students.”

In May, board members hired the Texas Association of School Boards for $10,500 to help conduct the search drawing 27 candidates for the job.

By Friday, board members had narrowed the field to a short list including Perez and another candidate, Lopez said.

“It was a great pool of candidates,” he said. “The board dissected them and we came up with the candidate we felt was the best fit for our district at this time.”

As part of the search process, officials conducted a survey, posting a link on the district’s social media channels while emailing parents and staff.

The school board “wanted to include the San Benito community in the search for the next superintendent,” board Vice President Ariel Cruz-Vela said earlier, adding the survey posed questions such as “what are the professional and personal characteristics that the board should look for in the next superintendent.”

The school board received 455 responses, 47% from parents and members of the community, 52% from staff and 1% from students, she said.