Saturday, October 13, 2007

Lancaster ISD “State of the School District” speech

By Thomas Allen

LANCASTER — Lancaster School Superintendent Larry D. Lewis delivered his “state of our district” speech to a meeting sponsored by the Lancaster Chamber of Commerce on October 11, 2007. In his introduction, Dr. Lewis said that he was going to “quell some rumors” and that “we really aren’t what the Dallas Morning says we are….only those who see the invisible can do the impossible.”

He continued by saying that to be effective (1) we must have a vision, (2) we must have a strategy, (3) we must take action, (4) we must be willing to take risks, (5) we must tell the truth, (6) we must become part of a nucleus, and (7) we must have passion.

He said that Lancaster ISD’s vision was to develop world class schools, partnerships, and a rigorous curriculum.

Superintendent Lewis said that LISD’s strategy was to make sure every child would read at grade level. LISD would introduce rigor through the International Baccalaureate Program. He pointed out that 80% of Lancaster children were now reading at grade level, up from 50%. He planned to implement the International Baccalaureate Program in the primary, intermediate and advanced years. Already the district is in the second year of IB at the Elsie Robertson Middle School. The district will receive a visit for the purpose of IB certification next Monday. According to Dr. Lewis he was told that there was no reason LISD will not be authorized to be part of the IB program. He said Lancaster’s program will be one of only thirty-three in Texas and 555 in the nation, proving LISD’s commitment to a rigorous education.

Superintendent Lewis pointed out that math scores were up from 32% to 53%, and science scores were up from 17% to 42%. He said LISD had hired math and science specialists.

Dr. Lewis pointed out the quality of LISD teachers, 97% of whom were “highly qualified,” and 83% of whom were certified in the areas they teach. Of the remaining 17%, he said they had passed the content portion of the areas they were teaching and were working on their certification. He said LISD is committed to hiring the best and retaining the best.

To demonstrate Lancaster’s commitment to excellence, Superintendent Lewis pointed out that Lancaster and Richardson were the only two school districts in the area to qualify for a Milken Foundation Grant.

He said an effective school district takes actions. “It’s all about performance,” he said. “If you don’t perform, you’re in trouble with us…We’re not going to lower standards.” He went on to say that students have no excuse not to get their work done. There was a way, he said, that students could go on line and get the materials the teacher taught that day. Then he said “If parents can afford Nikes and a pair of hangdowns for a kid to wear on weekends, they can afford a computer at home.” He pointed out that the number of children in Gifted and Talented had increased and the number of children in special education had been reduced.

To further demonstrate his commitment to excellence, he said that if there is an athletic program in Texas that offers a state championship, LISD wants to have it, including a lacrosse team.

Superintendent Lewis said an effective district would be willing to take risks. The four day week was a risk, which, he admitted, was bad timing, but the district is still working on it. He said representatives of other school boards came up to him at a recent meeting and said, “Thank you [for taking the risk in proposing the 4-day week] because we’re next.” He said “Don’t ask kids to sit in rows” anymore because everything is electronic.

Another risk was the dress code. In support of the effectiveness of the dress code, he pointed out that the number of fights were down. From over 300 kids in alternative education, there are now only 43.

He pointed out the risk of the $110 million bond. He said that no one believed he could pass a bond of that size. Yet, he pointed out that LISD and its architect, Corgan & Associates, had just received an award for the value received by the LISD in the $110 million bond program, proving that LISD was not “squandering money.”

Dr. Lewis said an effective school is about truth. He continued, “Our financial situation really is great…We called our mistake, and we covered our mistake.” He said that people were calling the TEA and making all kinds of claims, such as abuse of credit cards and when he told TEA that LISD only had one credit card, TEA didn’t see a problem. He said “we will always tell you the truth.”

To support his statement that to be effective, the school district must become part of a nucleus, Dr. Lewis said the school district would partner with the city because, “we respect the city manager and the mayor and don’t want them to be blind-sided.”

Dr. Lewis admitted that he and the school board had endured a lot of criticism, but that the school board was “willing to stand up and do the right thing for the kids.” He was told “don’t let anybody run you out of town, because you were called here.”

His final point was about a passion. He defined the word from Webster’s dictionary referring to the sufferings of Christ. Those who work with Lancaster students must be willing to endure Christ like suffering. “We’re not in it for personal gain,” he said.

Dr. Lewis closed by saying that he would be taking to the LISD board in November a proposal to purchase 4,000 to 5,000 subscriptions to the Today Newspapers to inform the people of the LISD about what is happening in the district.

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• Lancaster ISD

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