Albuquerque Public Schools announced today that one of the three superintendent finalists chosen by the Board of Education last week, has withdrawn from the search. Mason Bellamy, who currently serves as the Chief of Academics and Schools for Metro Nashville Public Schools, informed the search firm over the weekend that he is no longer pursuing the district’s top job due to personal circumstances.
The remaining two finalists are Thomas Ahart from Des Moines, Iowa, who is the former superintendent of Des Moines Public Schools and now a consultant with the Council of the Great City Schools and APS Chief of Operations Gabriella Duran Blakey, who previously served as one of the district’s associate superintendents.
“We are disappointed, but understand circumstances can change,” said APS Board President Danielle Gonzales. “We want to thank Dr. Bellamy for the time, effort, and energy he invested in this process and wish him the best.”
The search process started with 24 local and national educators vying for the position. Last week, the search was further narrowed down to the three finalists.
The public is invited to submit questions for the two remaining finalists until January 26. To participate, submit questions for the finalists here. Questions will be presented to the finalists during a daylong series of public forums on January 30 at the Berna Facio Professional Development Complex, located at 3315 Louisiana Blvd. NE.
Here is the schedule for the public forums.
- 9 a.m. – noon: Public Town Hall featuring a student panel and pre-submitted questions for the superintendent finalists.
- 5 – 5:45 p.m.: APS Employee Forum, where finalists will be asked questions pre-submitted by teachers and staff.
- 6 -8 p.m.: General Public Forum, where finalists will introduce themselves and answer pre-submitted questions.
On January 31, the board is scheduled to convene in an executive session to deliberate and select the incoming superintendent. APS has previously said that the final selection could continue past the deadline.