Dr. Granita Lathan, the Houston Independent School District (HISD) interim superintendent has been selected the Springfield Public Schools (SPS) next superintendent after conducting a nationwide search. She begins her tenure at SPS on July 1.
Houston Independent School District (HISD) is the seventh largest school district in the nation and largest school district in Texas. At HISD, Grenita Lathan is in charge of 276 schools, 27,000 employees and 196,000 students.
Dr. Lathan was unanimously chosen by the Springfield Public Schools Board of Education as replacement of the outgoing SPS Superintendent John Jungmann. She will be the first woman and first person of color to serve in the SPS’s top job.
She was excited for her new job: “They can expect to see me out in the schools, see me in the community. They can expect me to be very transparent and honest with them about the things that are working and the areas in need of improvement”, said Lathan in an interview after the announcement.
Lathan has held the interim position since March 2018. Prior to that, she joined HISD in 2015 as chief school officer for Elementary Transformation Schools and later became chief academic officer. She has spent 30 years working in education, including roles in Illinois, California and North Carolina.
“Dr. Lathan’s 30-year career in education demonstrates a proven track record of enhancing public education with an unwavering commitment to all students and educators,” said Dr. Alina Lehnert, president of the SPS Board of Education. “The nationwide search generated a high level of interest from many strong candidates, and the Board used the feedback from more than 6,000 SPS constituents to evaluate each applicant. We are in unanimous agreement that Dr. Lathan is the most qualified to lead our district. We look forward to welcoming her to SPS and providing our full support.”
Dr. Granita Lathan has a bachelor’s degree in business education from North Carolina A&T State University, a master’s in business education at the University of North Carolina-Greensboro, and a doctorate in workforce education and development from Southern Illinois University-Carbondale.
After Spring Break, Dr. Lathan is scheduled to participate in a series of virtual meetings to introduce herself and share more about her background and approach to leadership. Later in the spring, she will visit Springfield and in-person engagements will be scheduled.
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