James Meza emerges as a reformist schools superintendent in Jefferson Parish
Published: Tuesday, January 03, 2012, 7:00 AM
During the dinner marking his retirement from the University of New Orleans, where James Meza Jr. was dean of education until 2010, his daughter recalled growing up unsure of what her father did but certain it must be something notable because he had so many names. He answered to doctor, dean, colonel, Jim, Jimmy, even Argo, a nickname he inherited from his father, a Honduran orphan whose name, Santiago, a Spanish equivalent of James, had been endearingly mispronounced by a young stepsister.
James Meza, acting superintendent of Jefferson Parish public schools, in his office in HarveyMeza has indeed forged multiple, interwoven careers in schools, colleges, the state Department of Educationand the Louisiana Army National Guard, melding academic and military backgrounds into a leadership style characterized by the tightly focused pursuit of clearly defined goals. And at 63, he has entered yet another realm, emerging as public schools superintendent in Jefferson Parish