Green Bay Area Public School District building. (IMAGE: Courtesy of Fox 11 WLUK)
GREEN BAY, WI (WTAQ-WLUK) — The Green Bay Area Public School District has chosen its next superintendent.
In a special meeting Friday, the Board of Education voted to offer the position to Michael Hernandez, the assistant superintendent of the Appleton Area School District. Hernandez was one of two finalists selected; the other was Michael Trimberger, who serves as superintendent for the Random Lake School District.
Contract negotiations will now begin. Hernandez is expected to start July 1.
GBAPS has been searching for a new superintendent since February 2024, when Claude Tiller resigned. Vicki Bayer stepped into the interim superintendent role before she was named superintendent in December 2024. Bayer announced her retirement in October.
“Of all the different experiences and roles that the various candidates brought to the role who participated in the process, the Board of Education felt that Mr. Hernandez will bring practical experiences improving school performance in school districts that share many of the same challenges as GBAPS,” said GBAPS Board President James Lyerly in a news release.
GBAPS provided this biography for Hernandez:
Michael Hernandez is an accomplished educational leader with more than two decades of experience advancing equity, instructional excellence, and systemic school improvement. He currently serves as Assistant Superintendent of Secondary Schools for the Appleton Area School District, where he supervises comprehensive High Schools, Charter Schools, an Alternative Program, and District Athletics. Previously, he served as the Chief of Secondary Schools for the Madison Metropolitan School District, overseeing Secondary Schools and Alternative programs. A former High School and Middle School Principal in Wisconsin, Illinois, and California, Hernandez led Madison East High School as the first National AVID Demonstration School in the state of Wisconsin, modeling college-readiness systems and culturally responsive instructional practices for schools across the country. Throughout his career, he has guided Urban Schools to state and national recognition, including School of Recognition honors and PBIS distinctions, while driving measurable gains in student achievement and closing opportunity gaps.
In addition to his district leadership, Hernandez serves as an adjunct professor at the University of Wisconsin–Oshkosh, the University of Wisconsin–Madison, and Edgewood College, teaching courses in multicultural education, race and educational inequality, curriculum planning, and principalship to future educational leaders. A Harvard-trained leader in Urban Leadership and Instructional Rounds and a graduate of the Howard University Urban Superintendent Program, he is widely recognized for his expertise in culturally responsive leadership, AVID implementation, equity audits, and strategic school reform. Hernandez has been named one of Madison 365’s “20 Most Influential Latinos in Wisconsin” and remains deeply engaged in community leadership through service on nonprofit and workforce development boards. His leadership is grounded in the belief that strong culture, clear instructional vision, and courageous systems thinking create schools where every student thrives, and every educator feels empowered to lead.
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