Members of the Las Cruces Public Schools Board of Education on Tuesday unanimously appointed Stan Rounds of Hobbs to be the district’s interim superintendent.
Rounds, 55, will make an annual salary of $130,000, and begins work Monday. He will serve for at least 12 months while the board searches for a new superintendent.
In addition to having the votes of all five school board members, Rounds also had the endorsement of incoming board members Connie Phillips and Bonnie Votaw, who will be sworn in next month.
“This decision was based on many factors, ranging from the recommendations made by a citizen-based interview committee to his many years of educational experience,” Board President Sharon Wooden said. “We conducted thorough reference checks and found that Mr. Rounds was very much an open book.”
Rounds said he is excited to get to work.
“It’s been one of my career dreams,” he said. “When I was superintendent in
Rounds, a native New Mexican, said he is eager to begin work on many issues facing the district, and acknowledged that he doesn’t have all the answers. He pledged to be the “rudder” that guides the district through tough waters.
The district fired late last year former Superintendent Sonia Diaz. She was the third leader to leave amid scandal in the last six years, and the district has suffered during that time of turmoil.
“One thing I plan to be is a good listener,” Rounds said. “There are many challenges we’ll have to face but if you listen well, you can develop a plan to work through those issues.”
Rounds retired from the Hobbs Municipal Schools in January 2005 after serving as superintendent for a decade. He was superintendent of the Alamogordo Public Schools from 1991-1995.
Rounds has a master’s in educational administration from the