Richard Carranza
The Houston district says the board has selected Richard A. Carranza as the sole finalist for its superintendent job. By Texas law, the board must wait 21 days before taking a final vote on whether to hire Carranza.
Carranza has been superintendent of the 53,000-student San Francisco Unified School District since 2012.
“The Houston Independent School District has earned a national reputation for innovation and academic achievement among all student groups,” Carranza says. “I am honored that the Board of Education would consider me for the superintendent position. There are many challenges facing Houston’s students, and I look forward to working with the community to build on Houston ISD’s strengths.”
Carranza would replace Terry Grier, who left the superintendent's job in Houston earlier this year after more than six years.
Before becoming San Francisco superintendent in 2012, Carranza was the district's deputy superintendent of instruction, innovation and social justice for three years. Prior to that, he was a regional superintendent for the Clark County School District in Las Vegas, and a high school principal in n Las Vegas and Tucson, Ariz.
Video: Watch the Houston board's announcement on its superintendent search: