Cobre board superintendent search public forum

By Lynn Janes

The Cobre Consolidated School Board held a public forum on April 9, 2026. Board members in attendance included Hector Carrillo, Gabriella Begay and Agelina Hardin. Interim Superintendent Randal Piper also attended. Gilbert Guadiana and David Wilguess did not attend.

Carrillo said they have been pleased to have their two superintendent finalists candidates joining them through Zoom. They had already conducted reference checks and licensures for both candidates. The board felt these two would be the most qualified to meet the districts needs. "We sincerely thank each of them for their time, interest, and commitment to this process. We would also like to thank our community members and stakeholders for being part of this important selection process. Your engagement and support are greatly appreciated as we work to identify the next leader of our district."

Begay conducted the forum.

Each candidate's provided the same questions and had an  equal time of five minutes to answer on a rotating basis.

They started with each candidate being able to do an introduction of themselves. The two candidates that had made the final cut were Dr. Carla Spaniel and Dr. Verenice Gutierrez. They had extensive problems with audio in the beginning and only Gutierrez could be heard.

Gutierrez had grown up in El Paso and started her career in the Gadsden School District for eight years. Since then, she had worked in multiple states and some large school districts. One of them had been Albuquerque. She had been a turnaround principal in two different states and felt Cobre could benefit from her background.

The only part of Spaniel's introduction that could be heard she had been honored to compete with someone of Gutierrez's caliber. Begay apologized for the technology issues.

Begay moved to the questions. On April 3, 2026, they had sent out a survey to parents, staff and community by email and had requested that they submit a question for the candidates that could reasonably be answered in five minutes. They had received ten questions back. Since Gutierrez had been first before,Spaniel would answer first for this first question.

Q: How would you turn around the public's opinion of the Cobre School District and guide it through the challenges it has been facing?

Spaniel said first she would have to do a survey to have input from the community to find out the deficiencies within the district. She would also have to look at the data and find out where the school ranked. Data shows a lot but also leaves a lot out. The big picture must be looked at. Everything must be looked at first before making decisions. Time would need to be taken to have community meetings and gather that data. "The one thing that I've learned in my 35 years of education is you're only as good as your leader is." In Fort Worth, she had been there for four years and brought it up to the highest recognized in the state of Texas for high academic gains. She would get to know the community and have an open-door policy, and it would take working with everyone and collaboration.

Gutierrez said the first 90 days would be her entry point. "I am going to listen and learn." At the end of the 90 days that would be when the lead part would begin. She would set up a variety of opportunities to listen to the community, staff and teachers. Her questions would includenwhat needs to be worked on, what is going well, what has not been working well and some others similar. This would be how she would collect her data to provide the information she needs. "You can never have enough communication." It will be one way to begin to foster more trust with transparency.

Once she has compiled that information, she would work with the board to create a strategic plan that would address academics, operations and the community. Once the plan had been made and communicated, they would need to follow through on it.

Q: How will you ensure accountability is consistent across all schools and administration in the district?

Gutierrez said she has a report template that she uses in all meetings and tracks conversations with each person and uses it to write evaluations. Parts of each of those reports will be filled out by the person she has met with. Some will be color coded when follow up or a deadline needs to be addressed. She explained the process.

Spaniel said it would be about developing a plan and working with everybody. "You do have to look at data, population, meet with people and have forums." After collecting all of that data she would want to meet with leadership to develop a plan together. When talking about turning around schools you have to look at the data and scores. The more input she has, the more transparency shows, and everybody feels like a part of the process of bringing things together.

It will be all about the input of the community and leadership developing a plan that will be sustainable and show growth. It will take time, consistency and everyone working together.

Sometimes districts don't have the funding needed but it should not be a barrier. Spaniel has received over $5 million in grants in the past that helped. She went over some of those grants she had been instrumental in bringing into her district.

Q: Should there be an issue concerning a family member at Cobre schools how would you handle the situation, i.e., the family member is being investigated for a Cobre high policy infraction?

Spaniel said if something happens that puts a student or staff member in a compromising position, they need to be held accountable. All has to be done in the best interest of the students, faculty and parents. If someone breaks the district policy that could put another person or student in jeopardy. They need to be held accountable. It would depend on the infraction of what the outcome should be. Being a leader, she said she would  be expected to make tough calls. She went over some infractions that could come up. In the past she has always met with the faculty and students to let them know what her expectations would be.

Gutierrez said she would like to clarify what they meant by family member. Had they been referring to the staff as family? Would they mean a community member? Each would require a different path. Depending on the infraction it would need accountability and determine who needed to be involved. Who has been harmed and how? What policy has not been followed and address it. She added that privacy would also need to be observed to honor employee rights. It could be a sensitive matter. Policies need to be followed because they have been made for a reason and can't be ignored.

Q: How will you bring kids to a healthy interest in education in the Cobre District? They added a comment, reward them and hope to see a change.

Gutierrez said she would do this in several ways. Her dissertation had been about the importance of mentoring in the pursuit of education. She had done focus groups with young women that had many barriers to obtaining their diploma and asked them why they kept trying. On young lady said, "I don't believe in myself, but because I have one person that believes in me, I am going to graduate." She had started a mentoring group she called Future Hispanic Leaders. Gutierrez said she holds high expectations for her students, and every single child has potential. All students will be different, and the educator/leader just needs to find out what they need.

Spaniel said it would be all about building relationships. Kids know if you like them or you don't. She had worked a lot of inner-city schools, in which everyone had to go through metal detectors, and they had drive-by shootings. In Tulsa, Oklahoma, 75 percent of the students came from incarcerated backgrounds and had been predominantly African American. Those kids had been tough but had to be. She walked in all the classrooms and said Hi to them every day and asked how they were doing. "It will be important for them to see you but more important that the students understand you will be there." As a superintendent that would be a little harder.

"It's all about building those relationships and developing those plans." In Tulsa, Spaniel had met with many clubs, community organizations, businesses and the Chamber of Commerce and started a program called Lunch Buddies. She had businesspeople come to the school, not to tutor or lecture but to build relationships with the kids. One child had come from a really rough background, and an attorney had started mentoring him through her program and mentored him through high school. He then worked at the attorney's office and went on to obtain his law degree.

Spaniel believed in providing rewards and incentives for things like perfect attendance.

Q: How do you plan on improving the educational outcomes and experiences for the staff and students that attend and work at the Cobre Consolidated School district?

Spaniel said she liked to do surveys that look at specific things. One question she asks teachers is if they know about multiple intelligences. "If you don't know how kids learn how can you teach them?" Some kids will be visual learners and some auditory. Her dissertation had been published into a book about effective teaching and classroom management. Kids that misbehave in class could either be bored or they don't have consistency in their lives. The teachers have not been organized and well planned. "I have high expectations for teachers and learning. When kids understand the material that is being taught, they are going to do well." She added that she would have to develop herself as much as the kids. She said, "I am old school, and we don't focus on basic skills anymore." They need foundational skills, working in the best interests of the students and making sure the teachers have the skills to do that.

Gutierrez said it would be part of her learning when she came to Cobre because she would need to figure out what would be needed when she saw the curriculum and what professional development had been done. She agreed with Spaniel that they needed to be in the classrooms and know what happens. She felt they needed to help the principals be not just managers but instructional leaders. In Colorado, she had done a lot and every month they focused on calibrating different things for each month to look at. She ended by saying, "I have to see where you have been and where you are at." Moving student outcomes cannot be done from an office but by visiting schools multiple times a week.

Q: How would you ensure fair employee investigations after an allegation?

Gutierrez said they would have to make sure human resources and legal counsel would be involved. It might sound formal or threatening but wouldl be for protection of the district and the employee as well. This will ensure that it be as neutral and impartial as possible, so everyone had due process. "You want a clean investigation and start it as quickly as possible."

Spaniel said to ensure a fair investigation, it would be a process and need to have a plan in place. A special team that follows district policy and the human resource person would need to be a part of it. Information would have to be collected on every side. Whoever does the investigation they will need to be fair and impartial. Depending on the allegation that person may need to be put on administrative leave. "Due process is important. Your investigations are important." The person doing the investigation must be impartial, and she provided some examples of things she had run across.

Q: What is your philosophy about education?

Spaniel said education would be a process, but putting children first would be her philosophy. This would be why they all have jobs and need to make them productive citizens. When they leave high school, they should be able to choose their path because the school had prepared them. "If you work in education, you must have a good heart and have a love for the students.. I love seeing them excel." They must hire good people with a skillset and let them do their job while providing them with the tools and strategies to empower the kids.

Gutierrez said education had played a tremendous role in developing who she became, referring to formal and informal education. "I am unapologetically 100 percent student-centered." Every student has potential, and it will be the responsibility as educators to create the conditions for them to thrive. Public education is a moral responsibility, and we cannot violate the trust of public business." Parents send their children to school and trust the school will do everything to ensure they will be ready to reach their highest potential.

In the beginning of her career, Gutierrez believed every student needed to have a degree, but now she has realized that would  not be meant for everyone and the students need to be prepared to enter the workforce. It will be the school's responsibility to make sure they will be ready and can read, write, do math and think critically.

Q: How do you define student achievement gaps and what is your vision for closing them in the district?

Gutierrez said she didn't like the deficit-oriented language of highest-achieving and lowest-achieving group, but has been the language of accountability and testing. Patterns have existed for decades and are predictable. She had seen it when she went to school. The plan would be to come in and look at the data and what the pattern has been at Cobre. She wants to look at least five years back and try to figure out why and who has been underachieving. She went over some of the reasons she knows of for the gaps. Predictably second language learners will underperform. The second would  be those identified with disabilities, such as dyslexia and autism. "Principals need to know who those students are that need the support and who the teachers are that need support. A plan needs to be made to address those gaps."

Spaniel said although many don't like the standardized tests, it does provide information on specific areas and what questions they missed. Every child needs to be on an individual plan and shown their tests. Maybe they had missed some questions because they had not been taught something and everyone in their class had missed the same ones. It would show what the teachers have been strong in and what they have not. They have to make sure to do curriculum alignment with the standardized tests.

Q: What would be your plan be for improving the communication between various departments within the district office to better implement the policies and procedures for processes that schools, parents, and students are often faced with?

Spaniel said communication would be very essential, whether it be newsletters to parents or speaking at events. She proposed several other ways to ensure good communication with the parents. "You must communicate with the staff, students and parents effectively." Currently where she works, they do a newsletter monthly to the parents and each teacher must do a page including herself. Once or twice a month they do parent engagement to help children at home. She went over a number of other things to do to engage and have effective communication.

Spaniel spoke about the second-language learners and had experienced in Dallas having 35 different languages spoken, with most being Spanish, but they also had Asian students. They had to provide tests in their native language, so they had the opportunity to be successful. Every student should have a level playing field.

Gutierrez said sometimes the district office forgets the needs of the schools. Currently she does formal and informal visits to all the schools. The principals said they had too many demands from different departments and sometimes the exact same demand. She started having the other administrators come to those meetings, and it became very eye-opening. They saw how the district had not been serving the schools. Principals have great ideas because they interact with the teachers and students every day.

Q: What do you identify as the greatest strengths of Cobre School District and where do you see the most opportunity for growth?

Gutierrez pointed out the biggest would be it's a small community and so far, she had seen a lot of involvement from the community. Those on the board for a long time have historical knowledge and have seen a lot of board meetings. Everyone she had interacted with she could see how invested they have been in the district and have expressed excitement about having a new leader and change, all very positive. Some of the challenges in a small district have been finances but the large districts have now been struggling with the same. Academic achievement could be better but that has been across the state of New Mexico. That could change with some goals to work toward.

Gutierrez said, "You need a superintendent that's going to have longevity, because in the longevity of your superintendent is where the achievement will come. If you don't have longevity in your superintendent, every time you turn over in superintendency, you're starting over and that delays the progress."

Spaniel thought the involvement of the community and their investment in the process would be a great strength. "It being small, you know your neighbors and students. Cobre has a lot to offer and little staff turnover." Unfortunately, tests had become harder and standards harder but felt that gap could be closed. "Having a strategic plan and making sure you have the buy-in from the teachers, staff and community will ensure success."

Currently as a superintendent in northern New Mexico they have trade programs in place. Some of the students already have jobs before they graduate. They need to meet the needs of the students.

Closing statements

Spaniel thanked everyone for allowing her to be part of the process. She has been in leadership positions for 30 years with documented proof of growth. " I want to move the district forward." She wants to be the person they feel like they can come in and have a conversation to develop a plan that works best for students, family and staff of Cobre. She grew up with a mother who was  a teacher and taught Spanish and the handicapped. "Compassion is important to me." Everyone has a strength and taking the time to listen and help develop that strength. "I lead by example and have had several opportunities that have made me a good leader and helped me develop a skill set." She ended by saying it had been an honor to be there, and it would be an honor to help Cobre be the best district it could be. She will have an open-door policy.

Gutierrez has dedicated her entire adulthood to children and making things better for them especially those with many barriers and helping them remove as many as possible. She had been stressed about the forum but a few of her kids she mentors showed up to cheer her on and it was what she needed. She reiterated she has been unapologetically 100 percent student-centered. She wants to remove as many barriers as possible so they will be equipped to tackle adulthood.

"I am a reality TV junkie and look at some of those people and wonder how they end up there." She wants to prevent kids from ending up in some of those situations. They will be prepared with critical thinking skills and not be making fools of themselves. Instead, they will be changing the world, making discoveries and be outstanding. "It is my mission and journey in this lifetime to make sure we are doing right by the next generation."

Begay turned the meeting back over to Carrillo.

Carrillo thanked Begay and had some closing statements. He wanted to extend the board's sincere appreciation to the superintendent finalists for their time, preparation and thoughtful engagement throughout the process. He also thanked the community members and audience for their participation. The involvement has been an important part of their decision. Carrillo wanted to recognize the staff who had worked diligently behind the scenes to make this possible in particular the legal attorney that helped through the process. He also recognized Norma Ramirez, human resource director, who had done an extensive amount of work for them and Charlene Fletcher, executive secretary/board secretary. "Of course, our IT people Katelyn Church, coordinator of technology, and Tuan Tran, computer technician."

"Thank you everyone for your time and commitment as we continue this important work. The next steps will be our final interviews on April 16, 2026, and we will continue our work on our decision."

Meeting adjourned.