Lancaster ISD, Superintendent Lewis twist in the wind

by Brian Allen of Best Southwest Citizen

More stories about Lancaster ISD:

See more

Citizens who have only recently started attending Lancaster ISD Board of Trustees meetings are learning hard lessons about the speed at which bureaucracy moves. The increase in attendees since the May elections coincides with Dr. Larry Lewis’ flagging fortunes and it’s pretty obvious folks are waiting for the axe to fall.

They waited for nearly three hours of executive session last week only to find the board had instructions not to discuss an attorney’s findings on Lewis. That was the only reason most of those taxpayers came to the meeting. A meeting slated for last night got postponed until next Monday, Nov. 17. There’s no guarantee anything of substance will happen then, either. Getting rid of an administrator, even one as embattled as Lewis, is a lengthy and lawyered-up process.

I’m certain the LISD trustees in favor of ousting Lewis would like to do so without it costing the district hundreds of thousands of dollars. In March, just before the May 10 election shifted the balance of power on the board, the pro-Lewis faction extended his contract through 2011. This likely means that getting rid of Lewis would require a full buyout of the remaining years of the contract. Hey, no one ever accused him of being politically unsavvy.

That contract is a huge problem. Because, frankly, the LISD would need one of its patented bridge loans to be able to afford to buy Lewis out. Now if they can prove Lewis knowingly did something illegal, then it is an entirely different ballgame (or track meet, if you prefer) and one the controversial superintendent would be destined to lose.

At this point, it’s hard to envision any scenario that would allow Lewis to keep his job. Why would he want to, particularly if a golden parachute awaits him? It would be the height of masochism to spend another two years bumping heads with Carolyn Morris. That’s two years assuming she doesn’t get reelected and she always does.

The best thing for everyone involved, especially the students, would be a quick solution to all this. But sadly, that’s not the speed government moves at.

Pegasus News content partner - Best Southwest Citizen

Staff
Verified User
Anonymous

If it were really about "the children," Lewis would leave without filing a lawsuit, given the financial mess into which the district has fallen under his oversight. By digging in his heels, we clearly see this is about Lewis and his career. If he files a lawsuit, his career is over, whether he wins or loses. Who would want to hire a superintendent with a dictatorial leadership style, a penchant for spending lavishly on travel and entertainment, who made extremely modest gains in academic achievement in contrast to his promises, and who managed the district's finances so poorly as to draw in a TEA conservator?

He's gambling. If he can hang on just two more years, he obviously thinks he can count on the preachers of this community to persuade the voters to elect a pro-Lewis board. He's hanging on for dear life.

His only purpose in filing a lawsuit would be to get enough money to retire. It would clearly not be about the best interests of the children.

He knows that if he leaves voluntarily, he will have essentially admitted to the findings of the investigative team, even though he would likely negotiate confidentiality provisions. He's promised he will be "validated," although surely he meant "vindicated." So, unless he comes out of this deal squeaky clean, he will lose whether he voluntarily leaves or not. So, the best he can do is dig in his heels and fight for his career.

He's backed into a corner. All he can do at this point is fight and hope he can claw his way out. I can't believe, even if he does make it out with his job in place, that he could be an effective leader. He has lost too much credibility.

His rhetoric and that of his lawyer indicate they are spoiling for a fight if he should be involuntarily terminated for cause. We had better hope that if he is terminated for cause, the evidence will be so clear that his lawsuit will not make it past the summary judgment stage. The vote of the board will indicate whether they have been advised by the district's lawyers that the case against Lewis is that strong.

Lewis could negotiate his way out of this deal and salvage part of his career with confidentiality provisions. Based on the comments we've read in the press, it appears he is making an all or nothing gamble. The press makes it sound like he refuses to negotiate a voluntary exodus.

We'll never know what he's been offered, but obviously, he has not been offered a complete buyout. My guess is that he's been confronted with the evidence and offered a token amount, plus confidentiality, to leave quietly, with mutual covenants not to sue. My guess is he refused the token severance package, and dug in his heels, similar to the game Hinojosa is playing in Dallas.

I think Lewis' attitude as revealed by his comments to the press show a basic character flaw that has been consistent over the last five years of his tenure. He doesn't walk circumspectly. He is a law unto himself. He refuses to second guess himself. He has a lust for power. We see it in the way he shifts the blame. Nothing is ever his fault. First, he says he inherited a financial problem which, he says wrongly, he fixed. Second, he says LISD made a mistake when it failed to annex the defunct Wilmer Hutchins. Third, he failed to complete all of the 2004 bond projects because the price of concrete and steel rose, Fourth, he initially said that it was OK to purchase vehicles and equipment with bond money, and when it was pointed out by the TEA that it was illegal to purchase $500,000 worth of vehicles and equipment with bond money, he stated, wrongly, that the the construction fund had been repaid by the operations and maintenance fund. Then, he blamed a million dollar oversight on his the now convicted financial officer Eugene Smith, whom he hired.

The blame shifting has to stop. He built the culture. The people who serve directly under him and report to him reflect his values. If they didn't share his values, they would long ago have blown the whistle. To the extent they protect him and are loyal to him, they are part of the culture he created. He needs to get over his power trip.

I think, though, since the stakes are so high and his career is on the line, it is no longer about "the children." It is about Larry Lewis. I think there are a lot of people in Texas who could do just as good a job as he or perhaps a better job, and they wouldn't be as expensive as he is. He isn't indispensible. He is replaceable. I'm certain there are people out there who are better at managing money, hiring, motivating, and training teachers, and complying with government regulations.

Also, I'm sure there are people out there who are less flashy, less prone to impulse spending, and more frugal in the area of travel and entertainment. We need a different type of superintendent. We need a superintendent who is strictly business and not one who is so flamboyant and boastful.

If it were really about the children, he would not even think about suing the school district. He'd realize it would be best to leave quietly and let the new school board and the conservator get this district back in running order.