Hartford Public School’s operations chief, Victor De la Paz, says his impending departure this summer to take the reins overseeing finances for the Baltimore city school system reflects on the local district’s many improvements.
“Hartford is doing such great work,” De La Paz told HBJ Today on Thursday. “If it wasn’t for the big changes we have going on here, I wouldn’t have this opportunity.”
De La Paz said he assumes his new post in July as chief financial officer in Baltimore, a school system whose 85,000 pupils dwarfs Hartford’s 22,000. As finance chief, his focus, he says, is less on profit and loss and more on investing district resources to doing what’s best for schoolkids.
“The attraction for me is the opportunity to help a greater number of students,” he said.
De La Paz said Baltimore school officials approached him about coming to work there.
He also conceded that his professional move to the Baltimore-Washington D.C. metroplex opens a wider door to career opportunities for his wife, a year-old UConn Law School grad who works in nonprofit advocacy.
De La Paz’s hiring was first reported Thursday on BaltimoreSun.com. He succeeds Mike Frist who resigned after a little less than three years on the job, the paper says.
De La Paz, 35, is a native of Union City, N.J., coincidentally the hometown of the Baltimore city school’s CEO. He first arrived in Connecticut nine years ago out of the University of Viriginia, to work for Hartford Financial Services Group Inc.
De la Paz joined the Hartford school system in 2008, serving as a special assistant while participating in the Broad Residency in Urban Education — a two-year program that trains managerial candidates in education — from 2008-2010.
He served as deputy chief financial officer until last October, when he was promoted to chief operating officer.
Hartford schools spokesman David Medina said a search is underway for De La Paz’s successor.
