Seguin Today: Seguin ISD Superintendent to stay in Seguin

Seguin, TX, USA / Seguin Today | Cindy Aguirre

(Seguin) — Seguin ISD Superintendent Dr. Matthew Gutierrez is staying in Seguin.

In a late night announcement Monday, Dr. Gutierrez announced his decision to withdraw his plans to serve as the superintendent of schools for the Madison Metropolitan School District in Madison, WI. Gutierrez, had agreed to the job earlier this year and was set to leave the Seguin ISD at the end of the school year.

Today, Dr. Gutierrez is sharing more details behind this surprise decision — a decision that he says not only explains his reasons for staying but also brings to light more details behind his initial attempt to leave.

Dr. Gutierrez admits that while pursuing Madison was a great step for his career, it was, unfortunately, made easier by things that were not so pleasant for him as he continued to lead the local district.
He says it no longer remains a secret that he had been operating the district all while battling personal threats and negativity by folks out in the community.

“In the last few months, I have learned so much about this community and I believe that as we’ve gone through this crisis and have come together in such an extraordinary way, that any negativity that comes our way is not going to be taken lightly. It would be my hope that now since I’ve announced that I was leaving Madison, that I’ve not received any anonymous snail mail or emails or not had any interesting happenings occur at my residence and I’ve not had any news media outlets indicate that they’ve been sent any information on me but you know, that’s been the last several months. So, now that I’m announcing that I’m staying, it could certainly happen again. But what I certainly do believe in my heart is that people will take a stance and not tolerate that. I’m at peace with the decision that I have made to remain here. I believe what this school district needs right now is stability and I really do believe that it would be a disservice to walk away May 29 as we are in the middle of a crisis,” said Dr. Gutierrez.

Dr. Gutierrez says in no way were any of these negative threats or attacks made by the school board nor were they coming from a majority of the public. In fact, many of these issues came into play soon after he assumed the role of superintendent and began making what he felt were necessary yet  unpopular changes within the school district. The specific nature of these various threats and negativity aimed at Dr. Gutierrez were not disclosed. But again, as he mentioned, they are no longer tolerated as his focus will continue on doing what is right for kids.
Even after making the decision to leave, it was obvious that the Seguin ISD Board of Trustees did not kept its disappointment quiet nor did they ever give up hope.

Despite the bittersweet decision, Dr. Gutierrez says he was ready to fulfill his commitment to Madison, a much larger district.  That, of course, was until everyone’s lives had changed with the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. With the school board only in the preliminary stages of its superintendent search process and the education needs of his Seguin ISD families in question, Dr. Gutierrez says he just knew that he couldn’t abandon them in June and ignore what would be the school board president’s request to stay.

“I think it’s important for people to really understand the why? Why, did Dr. Gutierrez interview for that position? I believe that is important and I believe it is important for me. I pride myself on transparency. That if I’m going through any type hardship that that will be completely shared in an open and transparent manner. I am thankful for the board’s understanding throughout this process. I certainly believe we have an outstanding board and they will be an award winning board someday soon but when I received that phone call from our board president, I certainly did not hesitate because I had been struggling for several weeks as we’ve gone through this crisis in thinking about just walking away. I just felt, as I stated earlier, it would be a huge disservice to the school district,” said Dr. Gutierrez.

Dr. Gutierrez says opportunities for his personal career will always find their way to him but for now, he is doing what he believes is the right decision for everyone especially during these unchartered times.

“I still have 15 or 20 years left in my career and there’s plenty of time to make a career move and it’s not the time right now and yes, it is a great opportunity up north but I believe that there is far greater opportunity right now here in the Seguin ISD,” said Dr. Gutierrez.

Prior to announcing his news to the Seguin community, Dr. Gutierrez, last week, submitted his letter and new intentions to the Madison school board.

He says the school district has been operating under an interim superintendent and believes that the district is already in position to fill the vacancy with already identified candidates — candidates who also rose to the top during the district’s search process.

In his letter to Madison, he states,” I know the difficulties and adjustments due to the pandemic must be all the more difficult in a major metropolitan city like Madison. But the complications of a town like Seguin in creating an online education system in 30 days and working with the community to protect everyone, to provide everyday sustenance, and the sudden necessity of coordinating in a manner that not only educates but saves and sustains lives has changed my role as superintendent of a small school district from a title and a job to something far more personal. We have become an interdependent family. As much as I recognize that becoming the superintendent of Madison Metropolitan School District would be a tremendous promotion, and that some day I might come to regret the loss of the opportunity, I just cannot leave Seguin Independent School District at this time.”

Dr. Gutierrez says he’s committed to working even harder for the Seguin ISD and its families. He says the work has only begun and again, is grateful to be around to help see things through.

“My top priority right now is ensuring that we are meeting the needs of our students during this crisis because many of our families are experiencing hardships and it’s going to go beyond the day that government officials say ‘we are open up for business.’ There’s going to be a recovery period. So, this is not something that is going to end immediately. There are going to be challenges that we endure for months to come and I believe that it was important for me to provide that stability in leadership so that we can continue to work moving forward that we have put into place the last several years but also continue to work that we have put into place right now while school is closed,” said Gutierrez.

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