Michael Hinojosa says he is stepping down as superintendent of the Dallas Independent District by the end of the school year.
Hinojosa announced his departure this week and is expected to offer his resignation during a monthly board briefing Thursday, reports The Dallas Morning News.
Hinojosa, 65, has served two stints as Dallas superintendent. He led the district from 2005 through 2011 before taking top post in the Cobb County (Ga.) school district. He returned to the Dallas superintendency in 2015 after Mike Miles, who succeeded him, unexpectedly quit.
Under Hinojosa's tenure, the district won approval of $3.5 billion bond proposal, the largest bond in Texas history. Other initiatives included the district’s teacher pay-for-performance system, the expansion of “choice” schools, and a school turnaround model that has been replicated across the state.
In recent years, Hinojosa pushed for the creation of work skill and early college programs in nearly all of the district’s high schools. The district also established a racial equity office and eliminated discretionary suspensions.
Hinojosa also took on state leaders and defied the state's ban on mask mandates in the Covid-19 pandemic.
Born in Nuevo Laredo, Mexico, Hinojosa moved with his family to Texas as a child and attended Dallas schools.
Hinojosa taught in the district at Stockard Middle School and Adamson High School. His career has included administrative posts in the Grand Prairie, and superintendencies in the El Paso, Austin and Houston areas.
