Mar. 16, 2022

Dear DPS Community:

Thank you for all that you’re doing on behalf of our scholars and families. In service of our commitment to transparency, we want to provide an update on our strategic plan development and the reorganization of our Central leadership team.

We continue to be grateful for the expertise and commitment of our Core Design and Steering team members as their work progresses in support of our strategic plan. The team members are anchoring to the perspectives shared in the Listening and Learning Tour report and recommendations from the Transition Team to guide their work, including how our Vision and Mission will be reimagined to guide us as a beacon toward being an organization that truly operates as community-led, district supported. We look forward to sharing more details on our progress on the strategic plan with you soon!

I’m also thrilled to announce that after a rigorous selection process, we have talented and experienced leaders who are now part of the Superintendent’s Cabinet and District Leadership Team:

• Deputy Superintendent of Schools: Dr. Tony Smith

• Chief of Schools: Cesar Cedillo

• Deputy Superintendent of Operations: Jim Carpenter

• Chief of Staff: LeAnn Slama

• Deputy Chief of Staff: Deborah Staten

• Deputy Chief of Staff: Laney Shaler

• Chief of Talent: Edwin Hudson

• Ombudsperson: Dr. Darlene LeDoux

• DPS Foundation President/CEO: Richard Tagle

Please join me in welcoming those new to Team DPS, and congratulating all of these dedicated leaders on their new roles in support of our students! I am eager to work alongside this team who will be responsible for shaping the future of our district. You can get to know more about these incredible leaders in the bios linked here. We are still in the selection process for remaining Cabinet positions.

In our previous communications, we shared the need to prioritize the reorganization and selection of leaders in our Schools Office to provide stability to our school-based teams. In this organization chart, you will see that structure of support. For more details, click here to see how our schools will be organized into Collaboratives into 2022-23 and beyond. Aspects of work within the Schools Office are still in the process of development. The next step in the Central reorganization is to post the next level of leadership positions that will support the Superintendent’s Cabinet and District Leadership Team. Included in these positions are roles that will be responsible for the support and supervision of schools and other key functions. These positions will be posted starting on March 22.

I’m tremendously excited about the transition to a new strategic plan and the opportunity to streamline Central Support, infuse new talent and energy into our leadership team, and for all of Team DPS to come together as we look ahead!

In collaboration,

Dr. Alex Marrero
Superintendent