Commentary: In all my years of local government reporting, I’ve never seen a new leader make a better first impression than Greg Ewing when he was hired as superintendent of the Las Cruces school district in December of 2016.
For months leading up to his hiring, the school board had been locked in a bitter struggle with then-Education Secretary Hanna Skandera, who at one point threatened to take over control of the district.
Stan Rounds, the superintendent at that time, made the mistake of trying to appease both sides.
Board members were looking for a full-throated advocate, and found one in Ewing. He forcefully stood up for the district, and eloquently defended its teachers.
Perhaps that’s why, more than two years later, school board member Terrie Dallman is still referring to him as “a breath of fresh air.”