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HARLINGEN — Riding waves of promise, Superintendent J.A. Gonzalez took office Sept. 1, meeting with top officials to begin planning his first year as the Harlingen school district’s top administrator.
After seven years as the McAllen school district’s nationally recognized superintendent, Gonzalez is replacing retiring former Superintendent Alicia Noyola more than a month after school board members completed an “extensive” search.
“With 27 years of experience in the field of education, Dr. Gonzalez comes to HCISD with an impressive record of educational leadership,” Marcy Martinez, the district’s spokeswoman, stated.
The school board set Gonzalez’s salary at $300,000.
‘First day of school’
In a blue suit and tie, Gonzalez walked into a morning meeting with the school district’s senior executive team, saying he felt like it was his first day of school.
“The reason I came to this district,” he told the group of associate and assistant superintendents making up his senior team, “is because you have high-level educators who teach high-level content to highly engaged students. That is what distinguishes excellent schools from all the others.”
During his first day, Gonzalez continued making his rounds into the afternoon, holding group meetings with the district’s principals and directors while planning to join his family at Boggus Stadium for Friday night football, with the Harlingen Cardinals facing the Mercedes Tigers.
“Whatever these students’ dreams are, we are going to make sure they are prepared to reach them once they leave our high schools,” he said. “You are the educators who are going to change the future for these kids — and I’m excited to help you do that.”
Eyes on Harlingen
After 27 years with the McAllen school district, Gonzalez said he was ready for his next challenge.
As he turned his eyes towards Harlingen, he said he viewed former Superintendent Arturo Cavazos as his “mentor,” describing his friend as “a tremendous leader,” many of whose systems he replicated within the McAllen school district.
“That’s how I learned about Harlingen,” Gonzalez said in an earlier interview.
Among his job offers, he said he pursued Harlingen’s superintendent’s position, describing officials and staff as “outstanding” professionals, with a “world-class school board.”
Superintendent of the year
In McAllen, Gonzalez climbed the ranks from a science teacher’s job to assistant principal, then worked his way from a principal’s position to associate superintendent for instructional leadership before landing the superintendent’s job about seven years ago.
In 2020, the Texas Association of School Boards named him Superintendent of the Year.
“We wish him continued success and we thank him for the time he served our community well,” McAllen school board President Debbie Crane Aliseda stated. “After all, we are all working for the success of our children here in the Rio Grande Valley.”
Nationally recognized leader
In 2020, the American Association of School Administrators named Gonzalez a finalist for its National Superintendent of the Year award, said George McShan, a former longtime Harlingen school board member who has helped school districts search for candidates for superintendents’ jobs.
In 2011, he first met Gonzalez while serving as principal at McAllen’s Dr. Rodney D. Cathey Middle School, he said.
“Dr. Gonzalez has a proven track record of leading the McAllen Independent School District in excellence of student achievement while he himself was was recognized as an outstanding superintendent in 2020,” McShan said in an interview. “This is someone who’s taken every step in the classroom. He was a teacher, assistant principal, principal. He’s done very well as a superintendent. He is focused on student outcomes — accountability. It’s a good thing he comes from the outside so he looks at things with a new lens.”
‘Extensive’ search
Following Noyola’s retirement in May, the school board launched an “extensive” search, hiring the law firm of Walsh Gallegos Trevino Kyle & Robinson, which had billed the district $11,221 as of July 28, to help in the search conducted by Saul Hinojosa, an education consultant paid an $8,500 fee plus $2,114 in travel expenses, Valerie Durocher Herbert stated in response to the Valley Morning Star’s Open Records request.
Born in Laredo and raised in Hebbronville, Gonzalez holds a bachelor’s degree in education from Texas A&M University-Kingsville and a master of science degree in educational administration and a doctorate in educational leadership from the University of Texas-Pan American.
Gonzalez is married to Shahroo T. Gonzalez, an educator, with whom he has three children — Joe Douglas, Samantha Isabella and Joshua Jay.
Editor’s note: This story was updated with new information.
