As the nation's eleventh largest school district, Dallas Independent School District serves more than 160,000 students who come from homes where 58 different languages are spoken. Operating with a $1 billion dollar budget, DISD employs 18,613 employees including 10,000 teachers in 220 schools.
2 Apr 2001
With strong leadership skills and a technology background, Hector Montenegro has agreed to join the senior management team of the Dallas Independent School District as a deputy superintendent. Currently the superintendent of San Marcos Consolidated School District, Mr. Montenegro will begin his duties with the district in June 2001, said Mike Moses, DISD General Superintendent.
"It is exciting that Hector will be joining our senior management team," Dr. Moses said. "He believes that all students can learn and schools should provide a safe environment for them. His proven track record with improving student achievement is on par with the district's goals."
Since July 1, 1996, Montenegro has been the superintendent of the San Marcos CISD. Under his leadership, the district has shown significant gains on the Texas Assessment of Academic Skills exam. San Marcos CISD is a Recognized district by the Texas Education Agency with a 67 percent minority student population. During his tenure, the number of minority students taking PreAP and AP courses doubled. The graduation rate increased from 50 percent of the original freshman class to nearly 80 percent. For the district, Montenegro established the Academy for Math, Science and Technology and the Academy for the Visual and Performing Arts.
With an education career spanning more than 25 years, Montenegro began as a bilingual teacher at Abraham Lincoln High School (San Jose, California) in 1977. For the past 10 years he has held numerous principalship jobs across the country including Alexandria, Virginia and Austin, Texas. In 1995, he served as an area superintendent for the Austin Independent School District. In this post, Montenegro developed an innovative strategy for integrating central office resources to provide the school campuses with feedback and technical support to improve the quality of instructional and administrative services.
Montenegro has been honored with several awards for his dedication to education. Among those honors are the San Marcos Hispanic Chamber of Commerce Citizen of the Year Award in 1998; the San Marcos Lions Club Educator of the Year Award in 1997; and the Hispanic Leader of the Year Award from LULAC of Austin in 1994.