Dr. Leslie Torres-RodriguezDr. Leslie Torres-Rodriguez is the Superintendent of Hartford Public Schools and a lecturer in the Yale Education Studies program. Born in Puerto Rico, she migrated to Hartford at the age of nine. A proud graduate of Hartford Public Schools, Dr. Torres-Rodriguez received a bachelor’s in human development and a Master of Social Work from the University of Connecticut, and she earned a Doctorate of Educational Leadership from Central Connecticut State University. She has served as an education leader in the Greater Hartford region for over 25 years and Superintendent of Hartford Public Schools since 2017.
During her tenure as Superintendent, Dr. Torres-Rodriguez led an extensive citywide engagement process that resulted in a unanimous Board of Education vote in support of the District Model for Excellence, an equity-focused plan to redesign, reimagine, consolidate, and right size 20% of the schools for improved student outcomes. She developed and executed an equity-centered budget development process and formula resulting in added targeted resources for Multilingual Learners, students with learning differences, disengaged students, and early college programming. To leverage student voice, she implemented the Superintendent’s Student Advisory Council focused on participatory student budgeting. Focused on operational effectiveness and financial sustainability, she has mitigated budget deficits totaling $105M between 2017-2020 and partnered with elected officials for the successful passing of $245M capital improvement legislation, resulting in two new school campuses that co-locate magnets and neighborhood schools, a new neighborhood school, and a new education complex featuring a comprehensive neighborhood high school and district operational offices.