Abelardo Saavedra

Abelardo Saavedra is a former school district superintendent. He previously served as the superintendent of the Houston Independent School District (HISD) headquartered in Houston, Texas, United States. In addition he formerly served as superintendent of the Corpus Christi Independent School District (CCISD) and the South San Antonio Independent School District (SSAISD).

Education Saavedra received a bachelor's degree in Science in 1972 and a master's degree in Science in 1974; he earned both degrees at Texas A&I University (now Texas A&M University–Kingsville) in Kingsville. In 1976 he received his Doctor of Philosophy degree in school administration at the University of Michigan in 1976.

Saavedra joined Houston ISD and became the Superintendent of the East District in February 2001. In August 2002 he became the executive deputy superintendent for School Support Services. She added that "Saavedra alienated a great many people because, it was said, he did too little". He announced his term would end in Spring 2010.

He became the superintendent of South San Antonio ISD in 2014. He announced that he was leaving the position at the end of his contract on March 19, 2019. He ultimately resigned before the end of his contract, with his last day being October 12, 2018. Saavedra's decision to resign, as well as the district's agreement on Saavedra leaving, was approved by the SSAISD board on a 6-1 basis that day. The then-Palacios Independent School District (PISD) superintendent, Alexandro Flores, replaced him.

In October 2018 the HISD board chose to appoint Saavedra as the interim HISD superintendent, but the board later reversed its decision.