Photo courtesy SISD
(Seguin) — Seguin ISD Superintendent Dr. Matthew Gutierrez is getting some much-deserved recognition – recognition he says he’s dedicating to all students. Dr. Gutierrez on Friday was announced as the winner of the Region 20 Superintendent of the Year Contest. Region 20 consists of 88 school districts across 19 counties. Of those districts, which includes all of Bexar County, only eight school districts, including the Seguin ISD submitted a nomination for the region title.
The announcement was made at the Seguin ISD Administration Building during a surprise ceremony attended by Seguin ISD trustees, principals, teachers, administrative staff, family members, plus the Seguin High School Matador Band. Also in attendance was Region 20’s Executive Director Dr. Jeff Goldhorn, who presented the award on behalf of the members of the Region 20 Education Service Center (ESC).
In accepting the award, Dr. Gutierrez tells the Seguin Daily News that the honor deserves to be shared.
“I just want to dedicate the award to the students in the Seguin ISD. I am proud of our students who are shining every single day. They are working hard and so this award is dedicated to them. If it weren’t for our students who are doing an exceptional job across the district, we wouldn’t be having this conversation right now and so it’s because of our students and then of course, all of the stakeholders who support our students especially our staff that Seguin ISD gets to shine and Region 20,” said Gutierrez.
According to Region 20, the award is based on outstanding leadership, management, school climate, school board-superintendent relations, school improvement and instructional leadership, fiscal management, and school-community relations.
As a district and as a host of community of stakeholders, Dr. Gutierrez believes that the Seguin ISD has been moving along the right path. He says this recognition only engages the full picture of all great things in the Seguin ISD.
“It really goes beyond the STAAR test, and I know some could argue well we are not a rated district. You’ve got to look at more than that test on one single day and if you really dig and look at the data, we’ve had the best-performing year since 2010. This is a result of our community efforts to pass bonds, our financial stability, our accountability when it comes to academics — what we are doing with post-secondary readiness, our programming, whether it’s fine arts, athletics, dual language, LiiNK. This is really a culmination of everything that we are doing and it’s being recognized and celebrated across the region and we were going against superintendents from other school districts who are doing amazing things and any of the other seven would have been great representatives for this award to represent Region 20 but our work is being recognized and I could not be any more proud to be the Superintendent of Seguin ISD,” said Gutierrez.
During the surprise ceremony, Goldhorn touched upon several of Dr. Gutierrez’s achievements and initiatives that have come into play during his six-year tenure with the district, including academic growth, the creation and redesign of a strategic plan, the successful passage of $131.5 million for Bond 2022, fostering relationships with the school board and nurturing partnerships with city and county officials and community members.
He also echoed the words as written by Board President Alejandro Guerra: “His personality complements his leadership skills that are necessary to affect change within an organization of more than 7,000 students and 1,100 employees. Even keeled, well-spoken and friendly, he articulates in a manner that is welcoming and easy to understand. He has a unique ability to speak to people at their level, interpreting things through their lens.”
Also noted during the award celebration were Dr. Gutierrez’s efforts to engage stakeholders, such as effectively utilizing social media to tell Seguin ISD’s story, creating a Superintendent’s Student Advisory team of students from each campus who meet monthly to share their voice, and funding a scholarship for Seguin High School graduates who pursue a degree in education.
Goldhorn stated, “We share your excitement as such a great accomplishment and thank you for your vision to support your students and the community of Seguin ISD.”
As Region 20 Superintendent of the Year, Dr. Gutierrez advances to the pool of school district leaders who will be considered by the Texas Association of School Boards State Selection Committee this summer.
Dr. Gutierrez says he is optimistic that his leadership as envisioned by those in the community will help warrant any and all deserving recognition.
“It really is a great feeling to know that the Seguin ISD is going to be represented at the state level. Out of all the superintendents across the state, there are going to be 20 who are vying to become the next Superintendent of the Year and so I’ll be learning over the next few days what the next steps are and I’m pretty certain that it is going to be a rigorous process just as it was to go through this round to become the Superintendent of the Year to represent the school district. It was a really intense application process and vetting to go through that. There was an opportunity to interview with board members who represent districts from across the region. So, this next level, I’m pretty certain is going to be even more rigorous but I believe that we are doing some amazing things for students in Seguin that there is a really good chance that the Seguin ISD Superintendent is going to be represented within that Top 5 that they’ll name in the coming weeks to go for the Superintendent of the Year for Texas,” said Dr. Gutierrez.
Dr. Gutierrez’s recognition follows the Region 20 School Board of the Year title awarded to the Seguin ISD Board of Trustees in 2022.