Bensalem Township School District board of directors unanimously approved Victoria Velazquez as the district’s new superintendent at Wednesday night’s school board meeting.
She will officially be sworn in at a ceremony Oct. 1 at Bensalem High School.
Velazquez has served the district for over 12 years — including roles as assistant to the superintendent for K-12 administration and director of elementary curriculum — and brings more than 26 years of experience as both a public educator and educational leader.
Before joining the district she worked as a principal in the School District of Philadelphia and the Norristown Area School District.
Earlier in April, Velazquez stepped in as Bensalem’s interim superintendent.
On top of her “exceptional” qualifications, school board member Karen Winters lauded Velazquez’s connection to the Bensalem community.
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“Additionally, her commitment to our community and district was evident through every stage of this process,” Winters said. “Dr. Velazquez demonstrated a clear vision that centers on our students and community, and I’m honored to cast my vote for her as our superintendent.”
Roger Allen, another school board member, echoed Winters’ sentiment and said that Velazquez brought intangibles to the position that pushed her ahead of the other 26 candidates.
“You can teach how to do IEPs, you can teach how to do principal evaluations,” Allen said. “You can teach those things, but you can’t teach passion, and you can’t teach someone who genuinely actually cares about our community.”
Velazquez said that Wednesday night’s vote was not about her — it was a collective decision for the betterment of the district.
“So I thank all of you, I thank our community, I thank our amazing students and our staff for working so hard to put us where we need to be,” Velazquez said. “And now it’s time for us to put Bensalem back on the map.”
