Bensalem school district selects a longtime administrator as its next superintendent
Victoria Velasquez has worked for the district for 12 years. "It is my home, and it is a community I care deeply about and am incredibly proud to serve," she said.
The Bensalem Township School District has selected longtime district administrator Victoria Velasquez as its next superintendent, after its previous superintendent resigned this spring amid a budget shortfall.
Velasquez, who has worked for the district for 12 years, is expected to be appointed superintendent at a school board meeting Sept. 23, the Bucks County Intermediate Unit said in a statement Friday.
“I am deeply honored and grateful for the opportunity to continue serving the Bensalem Township School District as district superintendent,” Velasquez said in a statement.
Noting that her daughter graduated from Bensalem, Velasquez said, “It is my home, and it is a community I care deeply about and am incredibly proud to serve.”
Velasquez was selected to lead the 6,400-student district after a search led by the Bucks County Intermediate Unit that drew 27 applicants from five states, according to the intermediate unit.
Deborah King, the Bensalem school board president, said in a statement that she had watched Velasquez “lead with humility, diligence, integrity, and a genuine love for Bensalem.”
“She knows this community, she believes in this community, and she understands that our students must remain at the heart of every decision we make,” King said.
Velasquez has worked in Bensalem as assistant to the superintendent for K-12 administration, director of elementary curriculum and instruction/federal programs, and supervisor of data and assessment/federal programs.
She has served as interim superintendent since April, after the district’s former superintendent, Samuel Lee, resigned amid a $12 million budget shortfall. The district eliminated more than 30 positions to help fill the gap .
As interim superintendent, Velasquez worked with the board on organizational systems and fiscal stewardship “during a consequential period for the district,” the intermediate unit said in the statement.
Before coming to Bensalem, Velasquez worked as a principal in the School District of Philadelphia and the Norristown Area School District. She received bachelor’s and master’s degrees from Temple University, a principal certification from Drexel University, and a doctorate in educational leadership, management, and policy and superintendent certification from Seton Hall University.
If approved on Sept. 23, Velasquez will be sworn in as superintendent on Oct. 1 at Bensalem High School, the intermediate unit said.
