Abelardo Saavedra

Abelardo Saavedra is a former school district superintendent. He previously served as the superintendent of the Houston Independent School District (HISD) headquartered in Houston, Texas, United States. In addition he formerly served as superintendent of the Corpus Christi Independent School District (CCISD) and the South San Antonio Independent School District (SSAISD).

Abelardo "Abe" Saavedra
Superintendent of the Houston Independent School District
In office 2004–2010
Preceded by	Kaye Stripling (interim)
Succeeded by	Terry Grier
Superintendent of the Corpus Christi Independent School District
In office 1993–2000
Superintendent of the South San Antonio Independent School District
In office 2014–2018
Personal details
Nationality	United States
Spouse(s)	Myrna[1]
Children	2
Education	Texas A&M University–Kingsville (BA, MA) University of Michigan (PhD)
Known for	Houston Independent School District superintendent

Education

Saavedra received a bachelor's degree in Science in 1972 and a master's degree in Science in 1974; he earned both degrees at Texas A&I University (now Texas A&M University–Kingsville) in Kingsville. In 1976 he received his Doctor of Philosophy degree in school administration at the University of Michigan in 1976.[1]

Career

Saavedra became the superintendent of Corpus Christi Independent School District and he held that position from 1993 to 2000 for a total of seven years.[1] At one point authorities filed charged against Saavedra, accusing him of tampering with government documentation and theft by a public servant; the authorities accused him of labeling 344 United States dollars-worth of alcohol purchases with a CCISD-issued American Express credit card as a purchase of "meals." CCISD documents stated that Saavedra had reimbursed the district with $186.43. Some trustees said that they were with Saavedra when he purchased the alcohol. Three trustees said that they lost confidence in Saavedra, while other trustees said that they did not lose confidence. By April 4, 2000 the school board did not vote on whether to fire Saavedra. On May 18, 2000, a jury acquitted Saavedra and he paid a 100 United States dollar fine.[2][3] [4][5]

Saavedra joined Houston ISD and became the Superintendent of the East District in February 2001. In August 2002 he became the executive deputy superintendent for School Support Services.[1] When Houston Independent School District interim superintendent Kaye Stripling retired in August 2004 Saavedra took her position. The district officially made him superintendent on December 9, 2004. Saavedra became the first Hispanic American superintendent of Houston ISD.[2]

In HISD Saavedra decentralized the management of schools. Mimi Swartz of Texas Monthly stated that Saavedra "was nothing if not cautious and reserved and accomplished little more than serving as Houston’s first Hispanic superintendent."[6] She added that "Saavedra alienated a great many people because, it was said, he did too little".[6] Citing the political and interest group pressures on school superintendents, Swartz added "To be fair, Saavedra may not have been able to do much more."[6]

As of July 2008 his annual salary was 442,556 USD.[7] He announced his term would end in Spring 2010.[8]

He became the superintendent of South San Antonio ISD in 2014. He announced that he was leaving the position at the end of his contract on March 19, 2019.[9] He ultimately resigned before the end of his contract, with his last day being Friday October 12, 2018. Saavedra's decision to resign, as well as the district's agreement on Saavedra leaving, was approved by the SSAISD board on a 6-1 basis that day. The then-Palacios Independent School District (PISD) superintendent, Alexandro Flores, replaced him.[10]

In October 2018 the HISD board chose to appoint Saavedra as the interim HISD superintendent, but the board later reversed its decision.[11]

References

1. "Abelardo Saavedra, Ph.D. Archived May 8, 2008, at the Wayback Machine." Houston Independent School District. Retrieved on February 7, 2009.
2. "HISD's new 'super' man Archived December 14, 2004, at the Wayback Machine." KHOU-TV. Thursday December 9, 2004. Retrieved on February 7, 2009.
3. Parker, Dan. "Marlin charges dropped." Corpus Christi Caller-Times. Tuesday August 1, 2000. Retrieved on February 7, 2009.
4. Barbee, Darren and Jeremy Schwartz. "Saavedra vote is delayed Archived July 8, 2011, at the Wayback Machine." Corpus Christi Caller-Times. Tuesday April 4, 2000. Retrieved on February 7, 2009.
5. Barbee, Darren. "Trustee division continues after inquiry." Corpus Christi Caller-Times. Sunday March 19, 2000. Retrieved on February 7, 2009.
6. Swartz, Mimi (September 2010). "The Super". Texas Monthly. Retrieved 2019-04-15.
7. Databases - Public employee salaries | chron.com - Houston Chronicle
8. Mellon, Ericka. "Saavedra stepping down by spring 2010." Houston Chronicle. February 4, 2009. Retrieved on February 4, 2009.
9. Caruba, Lauren (2018-06-07). "South San superintendent to leave district in 2019". San Antonio Express-News. Retrieved 2019-11-01.
10. Teitz, Liz (2018-10-12). "South San superintendent to return to Houston ISD". San Antonio Express News. Retrieved 2019-11-01.
11. Campion, Steve; Miya Shay (2018-10-15). "Houston ISD school board decides to go in 'different direction' after vote to bring back former superintendent". KTRK-TV. Retrieved 2018-10-17.

See also

Educational offices
Preceded by ???	South San Antonio Independent School District superintendent 2014-2018	Succeeded by Alexandro Flores
Preceded by Kaye Stripling (interim)	Houston Independent School District superintendent 2004-2010	Succeeded by Terry Grier
Preceded by ????	Corpus Christi Independent School District superintendent 1993-2000	Succeeded by ?????