Council of the Great City Schools

The Council of the Great City Schools will head into the 2023-2024 school year under new leadership.   

Guadalupe Guerrero, superintendent of Oregon’s Portland Public Schools, advances from chair-elect to the chair of the Council’s Board of Directors, effective July 1.

Guerrero, who has served at the helm of Oregon’s largest school district since 2017, succeeds Kelly Gonez as chair of the policymaking body of the national coalition representing 78 of the nation’s largest big-city school districts. Gonez will assume the position of immediate past chair.   

The Council’s 156-member Board of Directors includes one superintendent and one school board member from each of the districts represented. Marcia Andrews, school board member for Florida’s School District of Palm Beach County, moves from secretary-treasurer to chair-elect.

Rounding out the officers as secretary-treasurer is Sonja Santelises, CEO of Baltimore City Public Schools.