After almost three years leading Bexar County’s fourth-largest school district, Carl Montoya announced plans to retire as Judson Independent School District’s superintendent at a board meeting Monday night.
Montoya will retire at the end of the 2018 fall semester after 44 years in education, according to a Judson ISD press release.
District spokesman Steve Linscomb said the 68-year-old Montoya’s announcement did not come as a surprise to the district’s board.
“They’ve known in the past that he was going to be retiring before too long,” Linscomb said. “It is not any big, breaking news.”
Linscomb said the board has not yet made plans for how it will go about finding a new superintendent for the district, which serves more than 23,500 students.
Before his time in Judson ISD, Montoya served as superintendent of Brownsville ISD and Aransas Pass ISD. He replaced Willis Mackey, who served as superintendent for eight years before retiring at the end of the 2014-15 school year. Mackey served as Judson’s superintendent for close to eight years.
The board worked with a consulting firm to replace Mackey. Linscomb said he is not sure what the process will be for finding Montoya’s replacement.
“That seems to be several months still away,” Linscomb said,.
Montoya’s salary was set at $230,000 for the 2015-16 year, making him one of the highest-paid superintendents in Bexar County. His contract runs through June 30, 2019.
The board voted unanimously to accept Montoya’s retirement plans on Monday night.
In a joint statement, Montoya thanked board members past and present for the opportunity to serve as superintendent. Trustees expressed appreciation for Montoya’s work in JISD.
During his tenure, Crestview Elementary School was named as one of 28 Texas schools and 342 schools nationwide to receive the National Blue Ribbon Award from the U.S. Department of Education, the district passed two bonds for facility construction and improvements, and Veterans Memorial High School opened.
