Grossmont Union High School District Superintendent Mike Fowler is taking medical leave until March 1 for treatment for a malignant brain tumor.
Sandra C. Huezo, a retired former human-resources official for local school districts, will serve as acting superintendent in his absence.
“While it is difficult for me to step aside temporarily, I am confident that this is the right course of action given the anticipated physical demands of my treatment,” Fowler said in the district’s announcement Thursday.
Fowler said he would serve as a resource to Huezo and looked forward to resuming his work in March.
The district’s board of trustees appointed Huezo to the acting job at its meeting Thursday.
“On behalf of the entire Governing Board, I want to express our love and deep appreciation for Superintendent Fowler,” said board President Gary C. Woods, praising Fowler’s “strength, resilience, and fierce commitment to this district.”
“We are also grateful to have such an outstanding and experienced educational leader in Acting Superintendent Huezo,” Woods added, predicting “a great partnership.”
Huezo, whose education career has spanned over three decades, was human resources director and associate superintendent for Poway Unified for five years before retiring from education in 2021.
She had also served as interim superintendent, assistant HR superintendent and HR director for Sweetwater Union High and as chief HR officer for San Diego Unified School District.
The Grossmont Union board had held two special meetings to look at options for acting superintendent.
Fowler successfully underwent surgery in December after his diagnosis and has begun a treatment schedule that will require him to be on leave through February.
He said his family had been moved by the support they’d received from the community.
Fowler became superintendent in 2024, after serving as the district’s assistant superintendent of educational services and previously as principal at Granite Hills High.
His predecessor Mary Beth Kastan had been hired in 2022 as the district’s third leader in two years.
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