Mansfield ISD superintendent faces crises with kindness

By Bobby Quinten

Mansfield Record

The Flying Squirrel Coffee Company in historic downtown Mansfield proved to be a pleasant mid-afternoon respite in a busy week for Mansfield ISD Superintendent Kimberley Cantu.

“I love this place. They do an amazing job,” Cantu said just before ordering her coffee with oat milk (her favorite java there is the Firecracker with cayenne).

Later that evening, Cantu would attend a joint meeting of the MISD School Board and the Mansfield City Council.

“We find it helpful that both parties know what the other one is doing and planning,” she explained. The next day's schedule included a Community

Conversations forum at Howard Middle School, followed by a travel day to San Antonio to root for the Summit Jaguars in the UIL men’s basketball state tournament.

“All that, plus Friday is the last day before spring break,” Cantu sighed. “It’s a busy time!”

The school superintendent considers the downtown district indicative of the community’s main strength.

“Despite its growth, Mansfield still feels like a small town,” Cantu said. “It is a great place to raise kids.”

Kimberley Cantu ascended to the school district’s top job Jan. 1, 2020, replacing retiring longtime superintendent Jim Vaszauskas. Dr. V left as a beloved and well-respected community leader, a succession that can create additional pressure on the next leader transitioning into the role.

However, Cantu said that was not the case.

“No doubt, it is always hard to follow greatness, and he left big shoes to fill,” she explained. “But Dr. Vaszauskas always has been 100 percent supportive. He has been a mentor and a friend to me, and he still is today. We had similar backgrounds since he and I both taught English and both coached sports. He and I spent many years together in the district before he left, so we knew each other well. I learned a lot from Dr. V.”

Her MISD leadership journey began in 1993.

“A year earlier, Athletic Director Debbie Weems recruited me to come to Mansfield ISD, but I already had committed to Llano High School to teach and coach there. I needed to keep my commitment,” Cantu recalled. “After a few months in Llano, I contacted Debbie to see if she was still interested in me.”

Weems brought Cantu to Mansfield High School to be a coach and teacher. She worked in the classroom for five years before being promoted by longtime Principal Jerry Kirby to assistant principal and then academic associate principal. To this day, Cantu considers Debbie Weems and Jerry Kirby as significant positive influences upon her career.

Teaching came naturally for Kimberley Cantu, even if it was not her original career choice.

“Growing up, I wanted to be a broadcast journalist. I wanted to be a news anchor like Jane McGarry,” she recalled. “But my mom always said that I enjoyed playing with kids younger than me and being goofy with them. I always liked kids, and I always enjoyed the school environment.”

Upon graduation from Southwest High School in Fort Worth, she attended Tarleton State University on a basketball scholarship.

“It turned out that Tarleton did not have much of a broadcast journalism program at the time. That was my mistake for choosing a school that did not provide what I wanted. So, I foundered for awhile in college,” Cantu said.

“One day, a dean whom I respected told me I was very good in English, and so I should major in English. ‘Not only that,’ he said, ‘you should teach English.’ Well, there I was, not knowing what to do, when an authority figure I respected told me I should teach English. I decided to teach English.”

After three days as a student teacher at Fort Worth Carter-Riverside High School, Cantu was hooked.

“I was working in an extremely diverse classroom with the sweetest kids. Most of them came from low socioeconomic households with a lot of needs. I knew then for certain that I wanted to teach children,” she said.

Eventually, Cantu earned her Bachelor of Arts degree and Master of Arts degree in English from Tarleton State. After a year in Llano and eight years in Mansfield, Cantu accepted a principal opportunity in the Burleson ISD. That move opened her to expanded leadership roles in curriculum and instruction, student interventions, and then human resources. She credits her BISD Superintendent Mark Jackson as a mentor and influence on her journey.

Cantu returned to the Mansfield ISD in 2012 as director of human resources and shortly thereafter she completed her Doctor of Education degree from Texas A&M – Commerce. In August 2018, Cantu was appointed deputy superintendent. When Vaszauskas revealed his retirement plans in 2019, the search for his successor ended with only one finalist. Cantu became Mansfield’s second female school superintendent in December 2019.

“My term started on January 1, 2020, and my first day in the office was January 6th when staff returned from the holiday break,” Cantu recalled. “I had about 10 weeks on the job before we left March 6th on Spring Break and never came back.”

In March 2020, another MISD men’s basketball squad qualified to play in the UIL state tournament. Defending 5A state champions Timberview would meet San Antonio Wagner in the state semifinals March 12.

The Wolves never played that game. On the night before the game, an NBA player tested positive for coronavirus, causing the NBA to suspend its schedule. The lockdowns began, and the world would never be the same again, including the world of public education.

“We had been monitoring the situation for several days prior to Spring Break,” Cantu remembered, “but everything evolved very quickly while we were out. By mid-week, I became concerned about whether we could or should come back on time or not.”

After a team call, Mansfield ISD extended Spring Break for two additional weeks through March 27. When the State of Texas declared all public schools closed until at least May 4, district leaders pushed forward with distance learning starting March 23. Cantu reflects on that time of crisis as a time of team building.

“Our team really came together during that time,” she explained. “All of us were dealing with something we had never seen before, and we honed our

leadership team as we worked the problem from each person’s perspective.”

The brand-new superintendent led her team through those difficult days according to her personal team leadership principles.

“First, I try to surround myself with brains that are not like mine. From there it is all about communication. Everyone talks. I need your perspective. You can say anything, and we will talk it out like family. Eventually we build consensus, unite around the outcome, and roll it through the system,” Cantu explained.

As team leader, Cantu sees her role as one of direction and accountability.

“A leader should know what direction is needed and then communicate that direction clearly,” she said.

“Once we all understand the direction and the deadlines, I hold myself and others accountable – in a kind way – to stay on track. We talk through things with kindness.”

She encourages her team members to build relationships by “being kind and letting people see who we are as people.”

Cantu said she learned the critical importance of team strength most vividly Oct. 6, 2021, when a student fight inside Timberview High School became an active shooter incident.

“You think that this will never happen here, and then it does,” she remembered. “But, by this point after a year or so of COVID, our cabinet was a rock-solid team. We were all hands on deck, no fighting or cross words, no princes or princesses. We did whatever was needed that day, including grabbing lunch for teachers and taking it to the campus. You can make it through a day like that with a team that respects one another and works hard and knows their roles.”

According to Cantu, her experienced cabinet went into “crisis autopilot” in August 2022 when cyber attackers hit the district’s technology systems with ransomware. In that situation, the superintendent said their priority was pushing accurate information to the public as soon as feasible.

“We were very mindful of providing communication to students, parents, and staff,” she said. “In those situations, if you do not provide regular touchpoints to stakeholders, then they will create their own information that often is false.”

Today, the biggest challenges facing Mansfield ISD ooze from the ongoing effects of the pandemic.

“Teaching is harder than it has ever been,” said the former English teacher. “We work hard to keep our people happy because their job is tough. Meanwhile, our kids are still recovering from lost classroom time. My goal is to catch every child up so that every child can focus on college and career readiness.”

How have the past few years changed Kimberley Cantu?

“I definitely have thicker skin now,” she said, adding that the current social atmosphere is unhelpful. “People who do not know me can be kind of mean. Education unfortunately has become political fodder, causing people to look at it through a different lens than before. I think Mansfield needs to stretch with the increasing diversity that comes as the city grows.

“You know, I did not grow up playing superintendent. Even if I had, thanks to the pandemic, my job is very different now than the job Dr. Vaszauskas had. There are a lot of outside influences that can really distract you if you let them, lots and lots of noise. I do not need lots of praise. I can handle direct communication. Just do so with kindness,” Cantu said.

Cantu finds her greatest joy in being around her ultimate customers.

“I love being on campus with the kiddoes,” she said. “Spending time with them reminds you why you do what you do.”

She also enjoys spending time with her family, working out, serving with Rotary Club, and starring in her Catch Up with Cantu videos on the MISD website.

Kimberley Cantu began working at 13 years old in her grandmother’s ice cream shop at Tandy Center Mall. Raised by a working single mom, she learned a disciplined work ethic from an early age. Reflecting now on her leadership journey to date, Cantu said she would not change a thing.

“I’ve grown. Everyone else has grown. All is well. I just wish for everyone to be kind.”

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