Ted Alejandre is the 34th Superintendent of Schools for San Bernardino County and the first Latino to hold the office. He was first elected to the county’s lead educational seat in June 2014. He was reelected in both 2018 and 2022. He will begin his third consecutive four-year term in January 2023.
With more than three decades of experience in public education, Mr. Alejandre has been a teacher, vice principal, principal, and director of fiscal services at the district level and served as the assistant superintendent of Business Services in the Yucaipa-Calimesa Joint Unified School District. He joined the office of the San Bernardino County Superintendent of Schools in 2008 as the assistant superintendent of Business Services and later was appointed deputy superintendent, overseeing all operations of the organization.
As county superintendent, Mr. Alejandre works collaboratively with educators, families, other agencies, and stakeholders to provide advocacy, leadership, and services for over 400,000 K-12 students attending public schools in San Bernardino County. His office oversees a $370 million annual operating budget and employs over 2,400 employees.
Among the highlights of Mr. Alejandre’s service are assisting to build the Cradle to Career Roadmap, implementing Footsteps2Brillance and targeting early literacy, initiating “Systems of Support,” establishing the first ever countywide Student Advisory Panel, serving as the key liaison for state agencies and districts to ensure awareness of all safety protocols and other critical information during the onset of COVID for County Schools and California as President of CCSESA during this period, revamping the Alliance for Education to strengthen the alignment and connection of business and community organizations to education and workforce development, developing the School Crisis Toolkit for all districts as a leader on the ACSA State Taskforce, establishing SBCSS as a Future Ready School and promoting digital learning and highspeed internet access for all SBCSS families.
As a tireless advocate for education and collaborative services, Mr. Alejandre supports his community by serving on a variety of organizations throughout his professional career, including: Association of Educational Service Agencies Western Region (AESA) Executive Council; ACSA State Board of Directors; ACSA Region 12 President; ACSA State Board Delegate; ACSA School Safety Task Force (representing SB region); Business and Administration Steering Committee (BASC) Chair; California Collaborative for Educational Excellence (CCEE) Advisory Council; California County Educational Services Association (CCSESA) Vice President and President-Elect; CCSESA Region 10 Chair; California School Boards Association, State Superintendent’ Advisory Council Representatives; Fiscal Crisis Management Assistance Team (FCMAT) Board of Directors; K-12 High Speed Network State Advisory Board; Linked Learning Alliance Board of Directors; Linked Learning Council of Superintendents Chair; Redlands Community Hospital Board of Directors; San Bernardino County Preschool Services Head Start Shared Governance Board; Schools First Federal Credit Union Supervisory Committee Chair; Southern CA School Risk Managers Vice President, HACU Executive Board Member.
Mr. Alejandre is a retired U.S. Air Force Lieutenant Colonel serving since 1984. He was highly decorated receiving the USAF Meritorious Service Award three times, AF Commendation Medal, and AF Good Conduct Medal.
He received his associate degree in Administrative Management from the Community College of the Air Force, his bachelor’s degree in Public Administration, and master’s in Educational Administration both from Cal State University, San Bernardino. Mr. Alejandre has modeled his commitment to professional growth by successfully completing prestigious professional development programs such as CSLA, ACSA CBO Academy, ACSA Principals Academy (UCLA), USAF Total Quality Management, and USAF Air Command/Staff College.
Mr. Alejandre is humbled to have received numerous awards and recognitions throughout his career for which he is very proud, including California Superintendent of the Year (ACSA- 2022); Inland Empire Economic Partnership Leadership in Public Service Award (2019); Service Award for Exemplary Service to Education in California (ACSA – 2013); Excellence in Education and Leadership (CALSA -2016), Outstanding Leadership (California Latino School Board Association (2016); Good Government Award (Building Industry Association of Southern California – 2016); Ramos Family “Spirit of Compassion Award” (Time for Change Foundation – 2017); Champion Award in Education (Riverside County Board of Supervisors – 2017); County Superintendent of the Year; San Bernardino County (Inland Empire Economic Partnership); Support of Hispanic Higher Education Success, and Washington D.C. (Hispanic Association of Colleges and Universities – 2019).
Mr. Alejandre resides in Yucaipa, San Bernardino, California with his wife, Barbara, and their three children. All enjoy participating in volunteerism with various community efforts.
Past AASA California Superintendent of the Year Winners:
2022 California Superintendent of the Year: Dr. Sarah Koligian
2021 California Superintendent of the Year: Craig Helmstedter
2020 California Superintendent of the Year: David Hansen
About the Award:
The Superintendent of the Year program, sponsored by First Student and AASA, pays tribute to the talent and vision of the men and women who lead the nation’s public schools.
State-level winners are selected on the following criteria:
-
- Leadership for Learning
- Communication
- Professionalism
- Community Involvement