Gonzales ISD names lone superintendent finalist

John Schumacher of Mason ISD was named Gonzales ISD’s finalist for superintendent. Schumacher addressed the crowd at last week’s GISD school board meeting, thanking them “for your trust in me.” He’s expected to be offered a contract on June 17, after the 21-day waiting period.

José Torres/Gonzales Inquirer

Posted Thursday, May 30, 2019 8:00 am

By José Torres

Managing Editor

GONZALES — At its May 22 meeting, the Gonzales Independent School District (GISD) Board of Trustees named John Schumacher as finalist for superintendent. Schumacher was previously superintendent at Mason ISD.

“He has a passion for education, he cares for students and staff and a genuine desire to be in Gonzales and be a part of our GISD family and help us improve on our district which already has so much to offer” GISD Board President Glenn Menking said at the board meeting.

By law, the board must now wait 21 days before voting to hire Schumacher to be the new superintendent for Gonzales ISD.

The nearly two-month long search for a new superintendent began March 14 after current GISD Superintendent Dr. Kim Strozier announced her intentions to retire as superintendent of schools for Gonzales ISD. Strozier’s retirement is set for August.

After her announcement, the board hired the Texas Association of School Board (TASB) as their search firm on March 21, who then aided the trustees with the process of accepting applications, interviewing candidates and selecting their finalist.

On April 23, the board took action to interview a total of six candidates for the upcoming superintendent position. Then on May 8, the board narrowed the field to three candidates.

“I would like to thank Dr. Strozier and the board for having open-candid sessions during the interview process,” Schumacher said at the meeting. “It made me really excited about the possibility of working here. Truly, we’re going to be united.”

“It’s like when you look at your kids the first day of school and get excited, that’s how I feel,” he continued. “I think we have a lot of quality here, I think we’ve done a lot of great things and I think what we’re going to do now is continue to raise the bar and Iet the professionals do what they need to do and help them to do that. I thank you for your trust in me and I pray to God that we do everything in His will to help our students.”

Before Schumacher’s time at Mason ISD, he was an assistant superintendent at Johnson City ISD and prior to that worked at Marble Falls ISD.

The board is scheduled to offer a contract to Schumacher on June 17.