MISSION — The head of the Mission school district has been named the region's top superintendent of the year.

The Region One Education Service Center will now send Oscar Rodriguez Jr.'s nomination to the Texas Association of School Boards for this year's statewide superintendent of the year award.

Rodriguez will compete with nominees from the state's other 19 education service centers, said Annette Garcia, spokeswoman for Region One.

Local school boards nominate superintendents for the regional award, and a Region One committee selects the winner, Garcia said.

"It's quite an honor," said Rodriguez, who has been Mission's superintendent since 2005. "I ... try to work and stay in the background and let the real stars - the teachers, (staff) and students - take the credit."

Receiving the honor also brings attention to how well the district is doing to prepare students for college or the workforce, Rodriguez said.

The district expects to have eight of its elementary schools receive "exemplary" status from the Texas Education Agency - the highest designation schools can receive for their students' performance on the Texas Assessment of Knowledge and Skills tests - and two of its junior high schools receive "recognized" status, the second highest designation, for 2009, Rodriguez said.

He and the other regional winners will undergo more interviews with a state committee. That committee will then pick five finalists, and the superintendent of the year will be announced in October in Dallas at the annual joint convention of TASB and the Texas Association of School Administrators.

Rodriguez said he was honored just to receive his school board's nomination.

"It's very gratifying that the board feels as strongly as they do," he said. "That's the highest compliment."

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Jennifer L. Berghom covers education and general assignments for The Monitor. She can be reached at (956) 683-4462.