Two Tucson Unified School District administrators finalists to be Amphitheater superintendent

Two senior administrators at TUSD — a district gridlocked over filling its vacant superintendent post — are finalists for the top job at a neighboring school district.

Todd Jaeger, general counsel, and Abel Morado, an assistant superintendent of the Tucson Unified School District, are the two top candidates being considered for the superintendency at the Amphitheater School District.

Current Amphitheater Superintendent Patrick Nelson will retire at the end of this school year after more than four decades in education, five of those as the Amphi's chief administrator. The district, which serves about 14,000 students, began its search in January.

Seven candidates were initially interviewed for the job, said Scott Leska, an Amphi Governing Board member. Both Jaeger, who previously worked at Amphi for 20 years, and Morado, a veteran TUSD administrator of 23 years, interviewed very well, Leska added.

Leska said he couldn’t discuss what questions were asked of them because they happened in executive session. But in general, he said, the board is searching for an “out-of-the-box visionary.”

“We need to have someone who will take the district to the next level,” he said. “We consider ourselves one of the premier districts in the Tucson area.”

Morado said Amphi’s strong teacher base and diversity are what drew him to the job.

“It’s a great opportunity,” he said. “Amphi is a progressive school district.”

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Before serving as school and district administrator at TUSD, Morado taught bilingual education in the Sunnyside Unified School District and, before that, American history in Tolleson.

Jaeger, the other finalist, could not be reached for comment by deadline Friday.

Meanwhile, the TUSD board is scheduled to meet Tuesday to appoint an interim superintendent who would temporarily replace H.T. Sanchez, who resigned Feb. 28 after a weeks-long effort by some Governing Board members to remove him.

The board tabled the appointment of an interim superintendent twice, first at a March 7 meeting because too many names were suggested and a second time March 17 after Maggie Shafer, a former assistant superintendent of elementary schools for TUSD, withdrew.

The board hopes to name an interim superintendent in the next week, said TUSD Board President Michael Hicks. Then, it would move on to hiring a permanent one.

“It’s my goal to have a superintendent who is local to Arizona,” he said. “I don’t feel that we need to go out for a national search. I’m not really looking forward to going out and spending money on a search firm.”

The possibility of either Jaeger or Morado leaving the district for another is disappointing, Hicks said, but added that he’s not upset. “For me, I never like to hold people back,” he said. “I wish them luck.”