The Chron says Yes.
The man in charge of the San Diego, Calif. public schools has emerged as the frontrunner to take over the Houston Independent School District, the Houston Chronicle has learned.
Terry Grier, superintendent of the San Diego Unified School District, could be named the sole finalist for the HISD job as soon as Thursday. HISD gave notice this afternoon that a vote on a new superintendent is likely to happen Thursday or Monday. (Here is Grier’s biography in San Diego.)
Grier has been on the job in San Diego since March 2008. He ran the Guilford County School District in Greensboro, N.C. for about eight years before leaving for California.
A former teacher and principal, Grier has overseen eight school districts in 25 years and has a reputation as a fast-charging leader. In San Diego, he has had a rocky relationship with the teachers’ union and the school board. Less than a year after Grier was hired, a school board election changed the make-up of the board and it became more supportive of labor.
“It’s a different board than the board that hired him,” said Shelia Jackson, the president of the San Diego school board. “The board that we have now is a board that’s very progressive so we tend to ask questions. I think he’s used to a board that kind of accepts what he says as gospel, and that’s not particularly true of this board.”
Hair Balls did a little googling and found that Grier’s tenure in Greenville was somewhat contentious. I’m wondering what the reaction will be to a superintendent that’s not a minority in a school district that’s overwhelmingly non-Anglo. I look forward to seeing what folks have to say about Grier, if he is indeed the chosen one.
UPDATE: As Greg notes, Grier is on Twitter.
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He was in Amarillo, Tx. in 1988. Not a good choice.