The Donna Independent School District Board of Trustees named Angela Dominguez sole finalist for the position of superintendent during Tuesday’s board meeting.
Dominguez will replace Hafedh Azaiez, who left the district in May.
Dominguez will officially take the helm after a 21-day waiting period, becoming the first woman to serve as superintendent for the district.
Dominguez, a San Antonio native, was selected from a pool of 28 applicants, a release from the district says.
“On behalf of the entire Donna ISD School Board, we want to welcome Angela Dominguez as Donna ISD’s next Superintendent of Schools,” Board President Maricela Valdez wrote. “It was a unanimous vote by the school board indicating a solid decision. The goal of the board continues to be the academic performance of students as a top priority and Ms. Dominguez’s prior experiences and background fit in with the dynamics, culture, and expectations of the district. We look forward to working together as a team of eight to advance the educational opportunities of all our Donna ISD students.”
Those experiences include 26 years in public education as a teacher, principal and administrator, the release says. She led a dual language academy at San Antonio ISD, opened the first all-girls public school in that city and most recently worked as an assistant superintendent at Edgewood ISD, focusing on efforts to open the district’s first early Head Start program and helping the district navigate the pandemic.
“I am honored and humbled that this amazing board has selected me as the lone finalist for the superintendent position,” Dominguez wrote. “Donna ISD is already doing so many incredible things for students and I am thrilled to be a part of continuing to enhance the quality of learning and life for the students and families we serve.”
A first generation college graduate, Dominguez holds a Bachelor of Arts in history from Dartmouth College, a Master of Science in education administration from Texas A&M Kingsville and is currently in the cooperative superintendent program at the University of Texas at Austin researching her dissertation on retaining high quality principals in high poverty urban schools, the release says.
“Some of my first priorities are to visit schools, meet our students and staff, and begin to gather feedback about how we can collectively support our students and families to recover from the impact of the pandemic,” Dominguez wrote. “I want to ensure that our schools are maintaining safe learning environments that are focused on helping students to excel academically and socially. I value the work that the Board, employees, families, and partners have already done to serve and support our students and I know that together we will make sure that Donna ISD is the best school district in the Rio Grande Valley.”
The Donna superintendency was not Dominguez’s first attempt at obtaining the leadership of a district. She was named a finalist for the same post at Fayette County Public Schools in Kentucky earlier this week.
