MANSFIELD, Ohio — Mansfield’s board of education appointed Dr. Jose Hernandez as the high school’s new principal Wednesday evening during a special board meeting.
Hernandez was all smiles Wednesday when he accepted the position as Mansfield Senior High’s principal.
“I’m excited for this challenge,” he said, addressing members of the board of education.
“The challenges you have in this district are very similar to many cities in Ohio, cities like Lima, Fremont, and Fostoria that have academic challenge for schools to try to raise the achievement and do it in a way that helps make the town grow economically and makes it more efficient for people to see there’s an excitement. And usually that starts with the schools,” said Hernandez.
Hernandez leaves Gibsonburg Exempted Village Schools as Superintendent after one year. His career in education began in 1988 as a Spanish and English teacher at Fostoria community schools. After coaching football, volleyball, boys and girls basketball at two schools within the district, he moved on in 2002 to Toledo Public Schools.
He was assistant principal of curriculum instruction and activities at Toledo from 2002-04. In 2005 he accepted a job as a school principal for Allied Health Academy on the Scott High School campus.
From 2008 to 2014, Hernandez was principal at Fremont Ross High School. The school earned its first ever “excellent” rating on the state report card for the 2011-12 school year.
Excellence is what he hopes to bring to the Mansfield School District as principal for Senior High.
Hernandez credited his success in Fremont to the team he assembled and said he looks forward to working on Mansfield’s team.
“It (the team) includes teachers, community members, board members, everyone is a part of it. We worked real hard together and raised expectations. And that helped raise achievement. I’m just looking for another chance to do it here,” said Hernandez.
“He’s got a track record of being a team player. He engages students, he engages parents, he engages staff and the community,” said Superintendent Brian Garverick.
Hernandez currently lives in Fremont with his wife. He has three children and two grandchildren, with one on the way. He said he and his wife plan on moving to Mansfield in the near future.
“It’s important to be a part of the community. I think that makes a big difference if you’re part of the community,” said Hernandez.
Earlier this week, Garverick recommended the board appoint Dr. Hernandez during the Wednesday, July 8 special meeting. After appointing Hernandez as principal for Senior High, the board of education resolved to go into Executive Session, where they interviewed candidates for the district treasurer position.
“They’ve been having interviews this week; they should make their decision sometime after that,” said Public Relations Consultant Larry Gibbs.
The search for a new district treasurer began May 30, 2015. Current district treasurer Rosetta Stephens retires September 1, 2015.
