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Date: 7/2/2021
HOLYOKE – After several months of serving as the acting receiver/superintendent of the Holyoke Public Schools district, a longtime Holyoke resident has been officially appointed to the position.
Anthony Soto began serving as the state-appointed acting receiver in March. His appointment came after receiver Dr. Alberto Vazquez Matos was placed on paid administrative leave. Vazquez Matos was first announced as the state-appointed receiver in May of 2020, just six months after former receiver Dr. Stephen Zrike resigned from the position. Vazquez Matos began his tenure as the receiver at the start of the 2020-2021 school year, but was placed on leave in March of 2020.
The Department of Secondary and Elementary Education (DESE) has provided no reason as to why Vazquez Matos was placed on leave in February or why he formally resigned in March. Soto, who previously served as the district’s chief finance and operations officer, began serving as the acting receiver on March 19.
In a letter to the district and community members on June 30, the Commissioner of the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education Jeffrey Riley announced that Soto would permanently fill the position beginning on July 1. In his letter Riley said DESE asked members of the community and stakeholders “what skills and attributes they wished to see in our new superintendent/receiver.”
Riley said in response to their inquiry, DESE heard from School Committee members, City Council members, students, families, teachers and school and district leaders. “There was overwhelming support from stakeholders for Mr. Soto to become the next superintendent/receiver,” he said.
Soto, who grew up in the city and attended Holyoke Public Schools, said he was looking forward to continuing working in the position. “It’s my absolute pleasure and honor to lead the district from which I graduated, and to continue my work with Holyoke students, families, staff and the community as superintendent/receiver,” he said.