Lancaster ISD set to hold superintendent evaluation

by Jeff Melcher

Monday night March 26th, the Lancaster ISD Board of Trustees will hold a public hearing to consider the annual evaluation instrument for LISD Superintendent Dr. Larry D Lewis. Topics of interest may include the sudden departure of Eugene P Smith in January and the failure of LISD to file required annual financial reports of audit with the Texas Education Agency. Both personnel retention matters and financial reporting improvements were among specific goals the Board expected Dr Lewis to accomplish.

Last December 18th the Board has extended Dr Lewis's contract and approved a 4% salary increase bringing his total annual compensation to $197,600, exclusive of benefits and his expense account. The vote was 5-0-2 with Carolyn Morris abstaining and Rick Glover absent. Chief Financial Officer Eugene Smith was in attendance.

It seems unlikely the Board will issue a poor evaluation to a Superintendent just awarded a raise In the interests of completeness the following is provided, nevertheless.

This year's annual evaluation process actually began February 20th 2006 as the Trustees completed Dr Lewis's evaluation for the 2005-06 school year. That evaluation was approved 5-1-1 with Russ Johnson voting "no" and Rick Glover absent.

On March 9th 2006 the Trustees in cooperation with Texas Association of School Boards (TASB) representative Bill Nemir established the outlines of Dr Lewis's performance goals and evaluation measurements.

Also in March the LISD Board approved a referendum on a $93 Million bond package. ( In May voters refused the bond 54% to 46%.

Dr Lewis and the administration formalized the goals and measurements during April and May. On June 5th the Board considered the draft evaluation instrument and proffered one amendment:

"The Superintendent will keep the Board fully informed, on an equal basis, on any and all matters pertaining to District events, District personnel, the expenditure of District funds, or the use of District facilities." The amendment passed 3-2-2 Glover and Kirkland voting no. The amended goals were approved 4-2-1, Glover and Kirkland again voting no.

The district published Superintendent Lewis's goals part of annual budget at public hearing August 28 2006.

At that same meeting the Trustees approved a referendum on a $215 Million bond package. (In November voters refused the bond 52% to 48% )

An interesting wrinkle to the LISD 2006-07 budget was a plan to pay certain salaried employees from 2004 Bond reserve (borrowed) funds rather than from the current income. As recorded in the minutes:

Dr. Lewis explained how some salaries were moved into different programs and departments and how it reflects on the budget.

Various finance and reporting goals were established for Dr Lewis's annual evaluation. In particular, Dr Lewis hoped to accomplish the following:

Following the audit of the 2005-06 school year, the district will show an increase in its fund balance.

The district will maintain its rating of "superior" on the FIRST mechanism.

The district will improve its management reporting process

and

Creating an award winning Governmental Finance Officers Association (GFOA) comprehensive annual report.

In practice it appears those goals will remain unmet.

LISD's fiscal year for the 2005-06 school year closed August 31st 2006. Final bills and payments for the 2005-06 operation were to be booked by December. The fiscal year's annual financial report was due to the Texas Education Agency by January 31st 2007. An informal grace period allowed by TEA ended 28 February. According to TEA and as of Friday 23 March the district had still failed to provide the required reports. There is no valid report on the fund balance. The FIRST rating will necessarily be, according to TEA auditor Rita Chase, "substandard". The only member of the LISD administration belonging to the GFOA is no longer employed. And there are no Awards in the offing for an annual report that has not been completed.

Last March the LISD board agreed to use one of the following "grades" for the Superintendent's annual report card:

E = Progress is Exceptional and exceeds expectations

P = Progress is Profound and is on target

M = Progress is Moderate and needs improvement

In the LISD, "Failure" is not an option.

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