The Mesa Public Schools Governing Board approved the contract to have Dr. Matthew Strom as the next superintendent of Mesa Public Schools during a Special Board Meeting on Dec. 19. The vote was a unanimous 5-0 vote. Dr. Strom will begin his new role as superintendent on July 1, 2025, following current superintendent Dr. Andi Fourlis’ retirement on June 30, 2024.
Following the vote, Dr. Strom stated:
“I'm honored to be selected as the next Superintendent of Mesa Public Schools. Mesa is a community with incredible strengths and I look forward to partnering with our educators, families and stakeholders to build on the district's foundation of excellence.
“Together, we'll focus on student success, ensure full financial stewardship of our resources, and continue to align our work with our strategic goals, which include knowing each student by name, serving them by strength and need, and getting them ready for college, career and community.
“Now, on a personal note, there are some family members on the call today. I want to let them know that nothing in life ever gets accomplished alone. I'm so grateful to have every one of my family members’ contributions to everything that's happened in my life and in my career. To couple that with what we're going to do and what we've done for Mesa Public Schools, we know nothing that we're going to be able to do is going to be able to be accomplished alone.
“We're going to have to be in this all together and we're going to have to be making forward progress on student success and thoughtful stewardship of our resources together.
I want to make sure everyone understands that this is a joint effort amongst all of our community members to make sure we surround these kids with all the support they need to be successful in life. Thank you.”
Dr. Strom was selected to be the next leader of Arizona’s largest school district earlier this month. He has been with Mesa Public Schools since April 2023 and was promoted to Associate Superintendent in July 2024. He previously served in Arizona’s second largest district, Chandler Unified, as Assistant Superintendent of K-12 Education.
Dr. Strom has dedicated 27 years to public education across roles such as teacher, department chair, director, executive director, COO and CFO. In his recent roles he has focused on creating efficiencies, strategic improvement and strategic planning.
He holds a bachelor's degree from Arizona State University along with a Master's degree and Doctorate (Ed.D.) from Northern Arizona University. Dr. Strom has been married to his wife Marcia for 24 years. They are loving parents of three sons: Zavian (Massachusetts Institute of Technology), Quentin (Case Western Reserve University), and Elijah, a high school senior.