Who is Monique Carranza? How music brought NYC schools chancellor Richard Carranza and his wife together
NEW YORK: New York City Schools Chancellor Richard A Carranza has officially stepped down after three controversial years of overseeing the nation’s largest school system. Carranza’s last day in the office will be March 15 -- and then he will be replaced by current Bronx’s Executive Superintendent Meisha Ross Porter. In a sentimental press conference, Carranza thanked everyone for giving him the opportunity to serve the children.
“Make no mistake, I am a New Yorker, while not by birth but by choice. A New Yorker who has lost —” Carranza said while fighting back the tears, “11 family and close childhood friends to this pandemic. And a New Yorker who quite frankly needs to take time to grieve. I feel that I can take that time now because of the place that we are in and the work that we have done together.”
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Who are Richard Carranza’s wife and children?
Richard Carranza’s wife, Monique Garcia Carranza, hails from California and has two sisters. As per The New York Times, Monique works with her sister, Susie Garcia -- who has an all-woman mariachi band in Los Angeles, Las Colibri.
Richard and Monique reportedly met through their mutual love for music and started dating. Richard became the superintendent of the Houston Independent School District (HSID) in April 2016. Soon after this, he married Monique in a private ceremony attended by their close ones. During an earlier interview with Fox, she described him as an “open book”.
“He is the type of person you can go up to when you see him in a store, or when you see him at dinner, and he will stop what he’s doing. You are the most important person in the room to him,” Monique said.
Over the years, Monique remained by Richard’s side as he dedicated his years to improving the education system. At the end of 2017, she even accompanied him as he traveled to several public K-12 schools in Taiwan as distinguished guests of the Ministry of Education, Taiwan.
When Mayor Bill de Blasio appointed Richard Carranzo as Schools Chancellor in 2018, Monique came forward to talk about her personal life and how they have attended the Association of Performing Arts Presenters conference in New York on multiple occasions.
“My sister Susie is a professional mariachi, and she owns an entertainment company in Los Angeles. So we’ve come here for the past five years to the APAP conference – the Association of Performing Arts Presenters – so we did that every year, and I also have by junior high best friend who’s still my best friend to this day has lived in New York for I believe about since we graduated from college, so about 22 to 25 years, and she lived in Brooklyn. She just recently moved back to Los Angeles,” Monique had said back then.
From their marriage, Richard and Monique have two children. The identity of their children is not revealed to the public for safety and privacy concerns.