Monday, December 29, 2008

What is Lancaster ISD Superintendent Larry Lewis trying to prove now?

By Brian Allen of Best Southwest Citizen

Superintendent Dr. Larry Lewis.

Larry Lewis no longer has the political support that kept him in power. The TEA audit that he promised would vindicate him confirmed everyone’s worst fears: the district is in serious financial trouble. Much of that comes from Lewis’ leadership. It’s true that the district was in bad financial shape before he got there but clearly nothing has improved, or is going to in a culture of bridge loans and big, expensive ideas.

So it’s puzzling, though not altogether surprising, that Lewis has exercised his option to have a hearing protesting his firing. The audit has confirmed Lewis was doing a bad job handling district finances. The report from the law firm of Anderson Jones uncovered even more wrongdoing. It says some of Lewis’ antics go beyond mismanagement and could enter the realm of criminal misconduct. What does Lewis think he will gain by encouraging people to dig further into his work?

I remember sitting in a board meeting and hearing then-board member Nannette Vick talk about the superintendent hiring process. She said board members were warned that some superintendents are great with academics, others are great with finances but few are great at both. It would be hard to find any evidence Lewis is that good at either.

The district has made some academic strides but it would need to produce 10 nuclear physicists per graduating class to justify the money problems. It’s hard for students to learn when basics like textbooks, school buildings and retaining quality teachers are out of the range of the district’s budget. Let’s play devil advocate and say even half of what the TEA and an independent law firm say about Lewis is untrue. At this point he’s such a polarizing figure that nothing can conceivably improve around LISD until he’s gone. Someone that cares about this district’s kids should really know it’s time to move on.

Pegasus News content partner - Best Southwest Citizen

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