The Utopia ISD board of trustees named Joshua Ham as the lone finalist for the superintendent position on December 9, 2024. The board anticipates that Mr. Ham will be officially hired in January, 2025. In his introduction, Mr. Ham says, "I come to Utopia ISD with 20 years of experience in public education, 14 of which were spent serving as an administrator in Killeen ISD and San Saba ISD. My educational credentials include a Master’s degree in Educational Administration from Sam Houston University and a Bachelor's degree in Economics and Business with an emphasis in Accounting from Hendrix College. I served in the United States Army, where I completed the Special Forces Qualification Course and earned the Ranger qualification and Combat Infantry Badge. view article

Nine of the 15 are from Greater Houston area school districts The number was higher than usual because two of the largest districts in the state, Cy-Fair and Fort Bend ISD, had superintendent changes in fall 2023. Cy-Fair's longtime leader Mark Henry retired and Fort Bend ISD's former Superintendent Christie Whitbeck resigned. Both districts had new leaders by February 2024, meaning salaries for the former and current superintendents appeared in the top 15 highest-paid superintendents in Texas last year. view article

After launching an extensive state and national search, the Granbury ISD Board of Trustees voted unanimously on December 16, 2024 to name veteran educator Courtney Morawski, Ed.D., as the lone finalist for GISD superintendent of schools. view article

Mysterious misconduct allegations and mid-year moves are spurring a flurry of superintendent shake-ups within Texas school districts. view article

Just over Superintendent Jim Chadwell’s shoulder, a scene played out that encapsulated his time leading Eagle Mountain-Saginaw ISD. To his left, neat rows of newly constructed homes extended past the windows of his conference room. To his right, a crew crisscrossed a swath of dirt, flattening the ground for even more future homes. view article

Monte Alto ISD announced a lone finalist for the superintendent post Wednesday evening, following Isaac Rodriguez’s resignation in September. The board of trustees have tapped Rashad Javed Rana for the position, who is currently serving as the assistant superintendent of educational services at Donna ISD, during a meeting on Tuesday. view article

A former superintendent at Carroll ISD sued the district Monday after alleging it paid him lower retirement benefits than what was agreed upon in his contract. David Faltys, who served as superintendent for 15 years before stepping down in 2021, claims in the suit the district breached its voluntary retirement agreement with him. A district member at the time told Faltys an issue with his retirement payout was made by the Teacher Retirement System, not by the district, according to the suit. view article

Bonham ISD has named a new interim superintendent. Starting January 6th, Keith Boles will take over as interim superintendent until further notice, according to School Board President Chance Robert. The former superintendent, Dr. Joy Wilson, was placed on paid administrative leave last month. view article

WASKOM — Waskom ISD recently named Nichole Smith, the district’s assistant superintendent of curriculum and instruction, as interim superintendent effective Dec. 1, following Rae Ann Patty’s departure to lead Gladewater ISD. view article

Former Fort Bend ISD Superintendent Christie Whitbeck filed a lawsuit against one former trustee and two current trustees Wednesday, alleging defamation and breach of contract. The suit comes just one year after Whitbeck signed a voluntary retirement agreement with the district. view article

Eagle Mountain-Saginaw ISD will ring in 2025 with a new superintendent. Trustees unanimously approved Dec. 2 the hiring of longtime educator Jerry Hollingsworth as the northwest Fort Worth and Tarrant County school district’s next superintendent. He officially starts leading the district Jan. 1. He was given a two-year contract. “My family and I are honored to have the opportunity to serve the students, staff and families of Eagle Mountain-Saginaw ISD and get involved in the community,” Hollingsworth said in a statement. “We have already received such a warm welcome and we look forward to calling EMS ISD our home.” view article

The Grand Prairie ISD School Board voted 5-2 Monday night to terminate the contract of embattled Superintendent Jorge Arredondo just shy of the school chief’s six month anniversary in the role. Arredondo joined the district after previously leading Pharr-San Juan-Alamo ISD. He has spent more than two decades in public education. view article

Gladewater ISD now has an official full-time superintendent. Rae Ann Patty, who has worked at both Texarkana and Waskom ISDs, was named GISD's official leader after the district has had an interim leader since the resignation of Sedric Clark in July. Clark, who was with Gladewater ISD for seven years, resigned to work for the Texas Education Agency. Former Superintendent Mike Morrison served as the interim officeholder until Patty was chosen. view article

During a Monday board meeting, Grand Prairie ISD voted 5-2 to fire Superintendent Jorge Arredondo. After a closed-door session, board members moved to terminate Arredondo's contract with the district. The two opposing votes came from Trustee David Espinosa and Trustee Gloria Carrillo, who have both publicly supported Arredondo in previous meetings. view article

Gladewater ISD has appointed Rae Ann Patty as the new superintendent. In an announcement on Monday, the ISD said Patty has dedicated 28 years to the field of education. “Throughout her career, she has held a variety of roles, starting as a teacher and progressing to positions of leadership, including assistant principal, principal, curriculum coordinator, assistant superintendent and ultimately superintendent,” the announcement said. view article

The superintendent alleges in a lawsuit that the firing resulted from a "witch hunt." view article

Trustees confirmed the termination of Humble ISD Superintendent Elizabeth Fagen in a 6 -1 vote Tuesday, but Fagen and her attorney plan to appeal the hearing examiner's recommendation. Fagen, who was present at the hearing with her attorney, Kevin O’Hanlon, said that she felt the hearing examiner’s recommendation that the board based its decision on was flawed. view article

Less than a day after being fired by the Humble ISD board, former Superintendent Elizabeth Fagen said that she plans to appeal the decision in hopes of clearing her name. “I've always been a person who just believes the sort of Martin Luther King Jr., the law of the universe 'bends towards justice.’ That you just do the right things and the right things happen,” Fagen said, as she sipped from a yellow coffee cup at a cafe in her Kingwood neighborhood. “The unfortunate side of (not speaking out) is people tend to only have one set of facts that are being pushed.” view article

Bonham ISD Superintendent Dr. Joy Wilson was placed on administrative leave Tuesday. view article

The Grand Prairie ISD school board could discuss possibly firing its superintendent now that his order blocking them from doing so has been voided. Jorge Arredondo was put on paid leave in early September amid unspecified allegations that he violated board policy. He had been on the job for about two months. view article

The Mesquite ISD Board of Trustees announced its unanimous selection of Dr. Ángel Rivera as the lone finalist for the role of Superintendent of Schools on Monday, Feb. 14. Dr. Rivera currently holds the position of deputy superintendent for the district, which serves nearly 40,000 students. view article

The board of trustees of the Kemp Independent School District has contracted with Arrow Educational Services, Inc. to assist them in their search for a new superintendent. Arrow president/ CEO Dr. Russell Marshall and lead consultant/COO Jim Dunlap will conduct the search. The timeline is posted on arrowsearchinc.com and the TASA career center. Updates will be available on arrowsearchinc.com and TexasISD.com as the search progresses. view article

The Board of Trustees has named Jay Ratcliff (current Superintendent of Big Sandy ISD) as Lone Finalist for the superintendent's position. Jay is a very experienced superintendent and is well known in the area. He will be a GREAT fit for Harleton ISD. Jay will be in-district one day this week and I will try to introduce him to as many folks as possible. He will begin duties sometime after March 15th.

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The Latexo Independent School District Board of Trustees made it official on Thursday, March 7 as they announced Latexo High School Principal Michael Woodard was the lone finalist for the Latexo ISD superintendent’s position. Latexo ISD Board President Kelly Nicol opened the meeting and informed those in attendance, “In our last meeting on Tuesday (March 5) – at about 10 pm – we named Mr. Michael Woodard as our lone finalist for the Latexo ISD superintendent’s position.” view article

The Leander ISD Board of Trustees named Dan Troxell, Ph.D., as the lone finalist to be the district’s new superintendent. Troxell has been superintendent of Kerrville ISD for 14 years, and was named Superintendent of the Year by the Texas Association of School Boards in 2008. Troxell also previously worked for Cypress-Fairbanks ISD, Allen ISD and Round Rock ISD. view article

The Southside Independent School District’s months-long search for a superintendent came to an end Saturday with the naming of a lone finalist from a field of 58 applicants. Mark E. Eads, the current superintendent of the San Marcos Consolidated Independent School District, was selected as the finalist during a special meeting after the applicants were narrowed down to three candidates. view article

The Georgetown Board of Trustees has hired Fred Brent as the district's newest superintendent. view article