Lansing schools names Benavides superintendent, pending contact deal
Lansing schools names Benavides superintendent, pending contact deal
Karly Graham, Lansing State JournalThu, May 7, 2026 at 11:43 PM UTC
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LANSING — It's official: Jessica Benavides is the choice to be the next superintendent of the Lansing School District.
Benavides' position to lead the Lansing School District has been all but a done deal since she was promoted to first deputy superintendent of the district last summer, but during the May 7 Board of Education meeting, trustees voted to allow school board President Guillermo López and Vice President Caitlin Cavanagh to enter into contract negotiations with Benavides.
When it comes to the Lansing School District, Benavides is a lifer. She grew up in the neighborhood near Cumberland Elementary School. She ended up applying for a job in the Lansing School District, and she's spent all but one year of her professional career working in the district.
Lansing School District First Deputy Superintendent Jessica Benavides helps a student find his classroom at Eastern High School on the first day of school Wednesday, Aug. 20, 2025.
More: How a hometown kid became heir apparent to lead Lansing School District
She applied to be superintendent in 2021, but the board chose Ben Shuldiner instead, who worked in the district for five years before accepting the top job at Seattle Public Schools, the largest district in Washington state.
"This is my home," Benavides told the State Journal after the meeting. "I've been working really hard for the last 90 days, of course my heart has been in this work for over 29 years, so I'm just really honored to be able to serve a community that I really love and a school district that I really call home."
The motion passed with a 6-0 vote. Board members LaVonté Heard, Robin Moore and Aurora Lemieux-McKissic were absent during the meeting.
Lansing School District interim Superintendent Jessica Benavides speaks, Tuesday, April 7, 2026, during a groundbreaking celebration of the forthcoming Lewton Global Studies Spanish Immersion School, which is slated to open in the fall of 2028.
"I think this board is going to do the right decision to select Mrs. Jessica Benavides to be the next superintendent of the Lansing School District," Trustee Nino Rodríguez said during the school board meeting. "Her dedication to this district, her dedication to our community, our students, teachers, and her emotions for what we have in the district is not comparable to anybody."
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Board Treasurer Dan Nowiski said the district is lucky to have had an interim superintendent who knows the district well, and said with Benavides, it's as if the district had a decades-long interview.
"We've had 90 days to see the superintendent fill this role, and I've been impressed in so many ways," he said. "The communication, the openness, the honesty with community, with staff, with this board, about things that are going well, but also things that need improvement and the willingness to have difficult conversations already, make difficult decisions."
He said he appreciated that when she was asked how she would make difficult conversations, he was pleased with her response.
"She said, 'It's always going to be centered around what's best for kids, and when you make the decision on what's best for kids, it'll be the right one, even if it's difficult,'" Nowiski said. "Among all the things that I've seen for the last couple of years and in this last 90-day period, that stood out to me, and I look forward to seeing the contract come back to us for approval."
Benavides said connecting with the community over the last 90 days – and the 29 years before that – was something that "means the world" to her. She added that "People love the children in the Lansing School District, and I just think the more that we can just join forces to make it the best thing possible for our kids, the better."
"Lansing School District is not perfect, but we certainly are going to strive to be that for our families," she told the State Journal. "I'm just really honored, humbled. I feel really loved and supported. This board is really incredible, and I think we're going to lead with a level of transparency and honor for our students."
Contact Karly Graham at kgraham@lsj.com. Follow her on X at @KarlyGrahamJrn.
This article originally appeared on Lansing State Journal: Lansing schools names Benavides superintendent, pending contact deal
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