PORTLAND, Ore. — Portland Public Schools Superintendent Guadalupe Guerrero is set to resign early next year. The district confirmed Monday that Guerrero is opting not to seek a third extension on his contract, making his last day Feb. 16.
Guerrero was appointed in the summer of 2017 and has led Oregon's largest school district for nearly seven school years, including through the pandemic-era closures and remote learning and, more recently, a contentious teacher strike that lasted nearly all of November, keeping students out of classrooms for more than two weeks of instruction time.
"I am grateful for the trust and opportunity to have led Portland Public Schools for the past seven school years," Guerrero said in a statement. "During my tenure, we worked tirelessly to provide our 44,000 amazing Portland students with excellent classroom experiences every day. I am immensely proud of my team's contribution to our school district's 170-year history. I want to thank every educator, principal, central office staff, community partner, and family for supporting our mission to make PPS a better experience for every student."
PPS Chief of Staff Jonathan Garcia also announced on Tuesday that he also plans to resign effective Feb. 16, although he wrote on Twitter that he will remain in Portland. Garcia started joined the district in October 2017.
In a letter to staff, students and families, Guerrero pledged to work with the school board to ensure a smooth transition. He added that "right now is the best time to step down and pass the baton," but didn't elaborate further.
When asked at a news conference on Tuesday, Guerrero said his decision had "nothing to do" with the contentiousness of the teacher strike and that he had already been mulling over the timing of his departure before the labor dispute began, but added that he held off announcing anything until the strike and a handful of other ongoing tasks were finished.
"I wanted to make sure we cleared those, and I wanted to make sure our board was afforded the time for a really thorough, community input superintendent search process," he said. "You know, you need about six months to do that, so it seemed like a good time to do that."
The district news release emphasized Guerrero's focus on expanding services and support for students and creating new opportunities for students from historically underserved populations, including his work with the school board in 2018 to develop a community vision for public education followed by a multi-year strategic plan for the district.
Guerrero's tenure has involved overseeing several major renovation and modernization projects including the rebuilt Lincoln High School and the new Benson High School set to open next year. The district also credited him with helping steer the $1.2 billion 2020 school bond to passage, bringing in funding for multiple renovation projects.
The school board also released a statement praising Guerrero's work to create an equity staffing formula, investing in arts education for students, improving graduation rates and creating new opportunities for students of color.
"Superintendent Guerrero has laid a strong foundation for us, and we are confident that the district is stable and in a strong position to embark on its next chapter," the board said. "We will meet in the coming days as a school board to identify an interim leader and begin the search process for a new Superintendent."
Guerrero is the first Latino superintendent of PPS. Before coming to the district, he worked for 10 years in Boston Public Schools and 10 years in the San Francisco Unified School District.
The Portland Association of Teachers released a statement as well, thanking Guerrero for his work during the past month to reach a settlement and end the strike.
"Our sincere hope is that he takes the lessons he has learned from our educators, fellow union, families, communities and city to wherever he lands next. We wish him the best in his future endeavors," the union wrote.
The district and the union signed a compromise deal that raises teacher pay by 14% over three years and increases teacher planning time to 410 minutes each week, but falls short of what the union sought in terms of class size limits. The district said the deal also exceeds the budget by $175 million and will require cuts or other funding sources to pencil out.