Houston Independent School District’s Chief Academic Officer Karen Garza has decided to remain with the district. Garza is a newlywed and had planned to leave the district because of family considerations, but she said after consultation with her family she feels comfortable in continuing as chief academic officer for HISD.
“This is great news for HISD,” HISD Superintendent Abelardo Saavedra said. “Dr. Garza has been a strong academic leader for the district and her vision and drive have helped to lead us to strong academic progress these past three years.”
Garza led the development of HISD’s ASPIRE program, the school improvement effort that paid more than 18,000 teachers and instructional staff performance bonuses over the last two years based on the academic improvement of children.
Saavedra hired Garza in June of 2005. She had been the deputy superintendent of the Corpus Christi Independent School District since August 2004, was associate executive director for governmental relations at the Texas Association of School Administrators from 2002 to 2004, and was executive director for curriculum, staff development and accountability for the Katy Independent School District from 1999 to 2002.
Garza holds a PhD from the University of Texas at Austin, and a Master’s and Bachelor’s in Education from the University of Houston-Victoria.

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