CHAMPAIGN, IL (Chambana Today) — Geovanny Ponce, a longtime public-school educator and administrator, has been selected as the next superintendent of Champaign Unit 4 schools.

The Unit 4 school board is expected to formally approve Ponce’s hiring at its meeting Monday night. He will succeed Shelia Boozer and begin his new role July 1 under a three-year contract with an annual salary of $375,000.

Ponce was chosen from a pool of 31 applicants. He currently serves as chief of schools for Fairfax County Public Schools in Virginia, the nation’s 10th-largest school district, which enrolls about 183,000 students across more than 200 campuses.

Before moving to Virginia in 2023, Ponce spent 23 years with the Houston Independent School District, the largest district in Texas. His career there included roles as a bilingual teacher, principal and assistant superintendent overseeing 52 high schools.

Ponce will take over from interim superintendent Dan Casillas, who stepped into the role after the board terminated Boozer’s contract with one year remaining.

Ponce immigrated to the United States from Honduras in his 20s and often shares his personal story of growing up in extreme poverty in Tegucigalpa. He earned a mechanical engineering degree in Honduras before finding his calling in education and completing a master’s degree at the University of Houston and a doctorate in education from Texas A&M University.

In Fairfax County, Ponce helped lead initiatives that boosted reading, math and science performance, expanded access to advanced math courses and increased English proficiency among multilingual learners. Programs introduced during his tenure included virtual Algebra I, mariachi band, extended school days and mobile classrooms.