Lancaster ISD’s search for a superintendent still ongoing

by Brian Allen of Best Southwest Citizen

Whoever gets this job eventually shouldn’t expect a huge paycheck, with the other difficulties facing the district.

The biggest story in Lancaster continues to be the school district. Lancaster ISD has not had the best of luck with its superintendents in recent years. Former superintendent Bill Ward's administration predates my time covering the district, but there are still many people who still blame him for the financial problems.

The Larry Lewis administration was marked by big ideas but continued failings to balance the budget. After his proposal for a four-day school week finally raised enough eyebrows for TEA to get involved, Lewis used up the last of his nine lives in Lancaster.

A lengthy search then yielded Sealy ISD superintendent Pamela Morris as the lone finalist. The district had even put out a press release indicating her hiring was all but a formality. But when dealing with LISD, when are things ever that easy? Negotiations between Morris and the district broke down over salary.

Now LISD has to go through the whole super search again, and you have to wonder just how things got to that point. Of course, if Lancaster taxpayers had a nickel for every time they wondered how things in LISD got to a horrible point, there would be no financial problems.

Whoever gets this job eventually shouldn’t expect a huge paycheck, with the other difficulties facing the district. But despite what readers and taxpayers have suggested, you’re not going to get away with paying a salary slightly higher than that of a teacher. Administrators command a large salary for a reason, and the good ones are worth every penny of it.