|
Only have a minute? Listen instead
Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...
|
WESLACO — IDEA Public Schools named Jeff Cottrill, a Texas Education Agency official, lone finalist for superintendent Tuesday — the fourth to hold that post in about two years. Cottrill has been with TEA since 2017, serving as its deputy commissioner for governance and accountability for the last three years, a news release from the district said.
He is expected to begin in June after a 21-day waiting period and action by the IDEA board.
“Jeff is an education leader with tremendous gifts, heart and focus,” Collin Sewell, IDEA board of directors chair, wrote in the release. “He is a veteran school administrator with valuable and diverse experience leading, overseeing and improving school districts and charter schools throughout Texas.” Cottrill will “fit right in at IDEA, where data guides our decisions,” he added. Sewell, who’s been the organization’s acting CEO & superintendent since February, will relinquish the superintendency to Cottrill but remain chief executive officer in a volunteer capacity for the transition, the release said.
Cottrill’s experience at TEA includes managing a variety of Texas school districts, among them Houston, Beaumont and Midland.
“With its mission of college for all, IDEA has raised the bar for what school districts serving diverse populations should make possible for every student. The organization also recognizes there is more to learn and improve in IDEA’s third decade,” Cottrill wrote. “I am excited to do that work with this team of devoted educators and creative leaders.”
A spokesperson said Tuesday that Cottrill’s salary will be established during that 21-day waiting period. His salary at TEA was most recently $190,800.
The release said the search was conducted by a board subcommittee with the assistance of a consulting firm. It included a survey and conversations with IDEA staff and families.
The search examined a pool of over three dozen candidates and the board approved Cottrill as finalist in a public meeting May 10.
“This is IDEA’s first outside superintendent hire in our 22-year history,” IDEA Board member Reba Cardenas McNair wrote. “We were drawn to Jeff’s impressive record of charter school and district stewardship, which has been undergirded by his high integrity. The students and families Jeff has served over his educational career are very much who IDEA exists to serve. Jeff, Collin and IDEA’s leadership team will take IDEA and our students to new heights.”
Cottrill will be the latest in a string of leaders at IDEA that have succeeded each other in rapid succession over the last two years.
Sewell took over for Al Lopez, who died in February.
Lopez took over the position from JoAnn Gama in 2021 when she exited the district after a misuse of funds review.
Gama was intended to be the permanent replacement for CEO Tom Torkelson in April 2020 after criticism of the spending decisions at the system.
