ALUMNUS SET TO TAKE HELM AT KATY ISD:

TAYLOR HIGH GRADUATE MOVES FROM ALLEN ISD TO BECOME SUPERINTENDENT:

By Sebastian Herrera

The Houston Chronicle

June 12, 2016

Lawrence Hindt is expected to take the helm of the Katy ISD on Aug. 1, replacing retiring superintendent Alton Frailey.

It's a homecoming for Hindt  -- a 1983 graduate of KISD's James E. Taylor High School.  For the past two years, he has been superintendent at the Dallas area Allen ISD.

Hindt will be joining a district that, like Allen, shares a rich high school football tradition.  Allen ISD has won five state football titles to Katy's record tying eight. [Allen's titles are in the first division of 5A and then 6A while Katy's are in the second division of 5A or 6A.]

"To have an opportunity to come back and give back to a community that gave so much to me, it's beyond describable," Hindt said Friday.  "This is a great community and a high-performing district.  When you're at the top, you have to find the areas to improve, and that's what we're going to set out to do in these next few months to a year.

Katy ISD covers 181 square miles over Harris, Fort Bend and Waller counties.  It is the eighth largest district in the state and added a dozen new schools and increased enrollment 40 per cent to 73,000 students during Frailey's nine-year tenure.

Hindt joined Allen ISD as the school district was in the midst of having to repair a large foundation crack in its 18,000 seat stadium.  Allen's controversial $60 million football stadium was at the time the most costly in the state before being toppled by Katy ISD's new $62.5 million stadium.

Katy's new 12,000 seat stadium split the community since it was approved by voters in 2014 because of its price and location, which is directly next to the district's Rhodes Stadium. [...and because the voters voted it down once, and the superintendent came back, said the District was going to grow by 3,000 students a year--a figure that was later quietly revised to 2,000 students a year, and did another bond!]

It's two different controversies," Hindt said.  "In Allen ...we were able to get the stadium repaired.  In Katy, they have a stadium that is badly needed -- let's face it.  It's a district with eight high schools, and they're playing out of one stadium." [Actually Dr. Hindt, Katy has only seven high schools but what's a high school or two among friends?  And those seven high schools have been playing quite nicely with only one stadium for several years now!]

Hindt previously served as superintendent for Stafford Municipal School District in Fort Bend County and as an assistant superintendent in Fort Bend ISD.

"Dr. Hindt just shined," said KISD board of trustee president Rebecca Fox.  "His love for his community. His love for his students.  His attitude towards teachers and the importance of the job they do.  His connection because he came from Katy.  He's watched our community for all those years, so he understand who we are."

After Frailey announced his retirement in January, trustees hired representatives from the Houston law firm Thompson and Horton LLP to conduct a search for Frailey's replacement.

The search consultants, David Thompson, a Houston lawyer, and Mike Moses, a former Texas commissioner of education, advertised nationwide for candidates, eventually landing on about 25 individuals for initial interviews.  The list then got narrowed to a handful of candidates before trustees eventually chose one. [See Mike Moses elsewhere on this web site.]

Frailey, the first black superintendent in the district's history, has become a widely recognized figure in the area.  But to his critics, he has also been controlling and influenced trustees too much in their decisions.  Others have also criticized him of being guarded about the release of information about the district. [Actually he was roundly criticized by the Editorial Board of the Houston Chronicle for his "guardedness."]

"Nobody has higher expectations than I do," Hindt said of improving the school district's legacy.  "Complacency is a curse, and we're not going to be complacent."

Frailey is scheduled to retire this summer. Legally, Hindt cannot sign a contract with Katy ISD until 21 days after being named the finalist.

sebastian.herrea@chron.com