Karen K. Garza

Dr. Karen Kay Garza was the superintendent of the Fairfax County Public Schools system from 2013 to 2016.

Early life and education

Born Karen Kay Franz in Canyon, Texas, she grew up in Victoria, Texas, where she graduated from Victoria High School in 1981.[1][2] She attended Victoria College in Victoria, Texas before transferring to the University of Houston - Victoria, where she graduated in 1986. She returned to the University of Houston - Victoria and took a masters degree in education in 1994, and took her Ph.D. from the University of Texas - Austin in 2002.

Career

Karen Soehnge began her education career as an elementary school teacher in 1986.[3]

In 1991, Soehnge left the classroom and began her climb up the administrative ladder, becoming an education specialist at the Victoria Independent School District's Region III Education Service Center.[3]

With her masters degree in hand, Soehnge became the principal for grades 5 and 6 at East Side Elementary School in Palacios, Texas in July 1994.[3]

After two years in Palacios, Soehnge served for a year as curriculum supervisor for the El Campo Independent School District in El Campo, Texas from July 1996 to July 1997.[3]

In July 1997, Soehnge became the professional development coordinator for the Texas Association of School Administrators in Austin, Texas.[3] She became the associate executive director for governmental relations for TASA in 1999.

She would work for TASA until July 1999, when she became Executive Director for Curriculum, Staff Development, and Accountability at the Katy Independent School District in Katy, Texas.[1][3]

After just over three years in Katy, Soehnge returned as associate executive director for governmental relations for the Texas Association of School Administrators in October 2002.[3]

From 2004 to 2005, Soehnge was the chief of staff for the Corpus Christi Independent School District in Corpus Christi, Texas.[4] She resigned from CCISD in June to become chief academic officer for the Houston Independent School District in Houston, Texas.[4]

After three years as chief academic officer for the Houston Independent School District, Dr. Garza announced she was leaving HISD on May 6, 2008.[5] However, she later withdrew her resignation, and would stay on for another year as CAO.[6]

In April 2009, Garza was named the sole finalist for the vacant position of superintendent for the Lubbock Independent School District in Lubbock, Texas.[2] Texas law requires a waiting period of 21 days before a school board can take final action on hiring a superintendent, so it was not until May 14 that the LISD board of trustees approved Dr. Garza's three-year contract, beginning on July 1.[7]

The Fairfax County School Board announced Dr. Garza as their preferred candidate for superintendent to replace the retiring Jack Dale on April 6, 2013.[8]

On September 19, 2016, Dr. Garza tendered her resignation as superintendent, effective December 16, to become the president and chief executive of Battelle for Kids in Columbus, Ohio.[9]

Personal

Karen Kay Franz married Charles Lee "Chuck" Soehnge in Victoria on August 14, 1982, and the couple would go on to have two children, Eric and Karli. Following her divorce from Chuck Soehnge in April 2006, she would marry banker Louis J. Garza in Las Vegas, Nevada on Valentine's Day, 2008.

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 Simmons, Tracy. "Karen Soehnge Makes a Very Long Commute." The Victoria Advocate 3 Aug. 2005: 5A. Google Newspaper Archive. Web. 24 Sept. 2016.
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 "LISD Superintendent Finalist Named." Lubbock Online. Lubbock Avalanche-Journal, 20 Apr. 2009. Web. 25 Sept. 2016.
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 3.5 3.6 "Timeline of Fairfax County Public Schools Superintendent Karen Garza's Career in Education." Connection Newspapers. Connection Newspapers, 19 Dec. 2014. Web. 25 Sept. 2016.
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 Santos-Garza, Venessa. "CCISD Chief of Staff Resigns." Corpus Christi Caller-Times. Corpus Christi Caller-Times, 4 June 2005. Web. 24 Sept. 2016.
  5. ↑ Mellon, Ericka. "HISD Academic Officer's Resignation a 'Huge Loss'" Houston Chronicle. Hearst Newspapers, 7 May 2008. Web. 24 Sept. 2016.
  6. ↑ "About-face: HISD Leader Decides to Stay." Your Houston News. Your Houston News, 18 June 2008. Web. 25 Sept. 2016.
  7. ↑ Gulick, Joe. "LISD Board, Garza Agree to Three-year Contract." Lubbock Online. Lubbock Avalanche-Journal, 15 May 2009. Web. 25 Sept. 2016.
  8. ↑ Fairfax County Public Schools. Fairfax County School Board Selects Dr. Karen Garza as Preferred Candidate for Next Superintendent. Fairfax County Public Schools News Releases. Fairfax County Public Schools, 10 Apr. 2013. Web. 25 Sept. 2016.
  9. ↑ Shapiro, T. Rees, Moriah Balingit, and Antonio Olivo. "Fairfax County Schools Superintendent Karen Garza Resigns." Washington Post. The Washington Post, 19 Sept. 2016. Web. 24 Sept. 2016.

External Links

Preceded by
Jack D. Dale
Superintendent of Fairfax County Public Schools
2013 – 2016
Succeeded by
Steven A. Lockard