PRESIDIO — At last week’s meeting, the Presidio ISD School Board announced that Carmen Rubner had been selected to serve as district superintendent for the 2024-2025 school year and beyond. Last June, she was hired as an interim superintendent to fill in for Ray Vasquez, who announced his resignation at the end of the 2023-2024 school year.
Rubner is a familiar face to many Presidio ISD families. She worked for the district previously from 1991 to 2019, serving a variety of roles from teacher and coach to assistant principal and technology director. In addition to her superintendent role, she is also the high school principal; the district has not yet decided whether they will hire a new campus leader.
District leaders decided to make Rubner’s position permanent with help from Doug Karr, a consultant with Arrow Educational Services, Inc. Before the search began in earnest at the beginning of January, Karr issued a questionnaire to board members asking them to rank the qualities they felt were most important in district leadership — the trustees expressed that they were looking for someone who was a “collaborator” and a “visionary.”
Rubner wrote to The Presidio International about some of her goals for the upcoming school year.
What have you learned during your time as interim superintendent?
I have learned a great deal in a very short period of time. Most of this has to do with new laws and requirements for school districts. My carryover is that no matter what I do, I need to know in my heart that it is best for the students and staff of Presidio ISD.
What are some of your favorite parts of working for the district –– and some of the biggest challenges?
I have three favorite parts of working for Presidio ISD. One has and will always be the students. They are incredible and want to learn every day. I see smiles on faces and that makes me want to work even harder to give them every chance to succeed. The second is the people I work with every day. People who come to work to make a difference for a child. People who, no matter their position, always put our students first. And third, being part of this incredible community, a community who always wants what is best for all of our students.
My biggest challenge is making sure everyone is on the same page. I’ll need to use all types of data — achievement, program and even perception data to see that PISD is on an upward trajectory. We won’t be looking at data for data’s sake though. It is imperative to have useful data to ensure that everyone is working towards the goals set forth by the school board. We have to know where we are in order to guide where we are going.
What kind of changes do you hope to see in the school district under your care?
I want to see our district flourish — financially, academically, athletically and with every program or opportunity we give students. I want everyone to come to school excited and leave knowing they did the very best they could do that day.