GRIFFIN ELEMENTARY (MGE) (XXVII):
KISD Names New School After Retired Administrator
By Ken Fountain
November 16, 2005
While Katy ISD's 27th elementary school won't open for another year, it already has a proud tradition to live up to, according to the officials responsible for naming it after retried KISD administrator Michael L. Griffin.
The Katy board of trustees on Monday unanimously approved the name of the school, which will be built in the Cinco Ranch subdivision, off Fry Road near Kilpatrick and Rylander Elementaries. Griffin retired as executive director for support services in 1999 after a 30-year career with KISD.
Trustee Robert Shaw, making the official motion for the name, said Griffin's career "spanned from classroom teacher to interim superintendent."
Griffin studied mathematics at Texas A&M University with the intention of becoming a computer programmer, Shaw said. But after graduation in 1970, he learned there was a glut of computer programmers in the workforce, so he decided to try his hand at teaching. James E. Taylor, then the KISD superintendent, hired Griffin as a math teacher at Katy Junior High, and he supplemented his $7,000 annual salary by driving a school bus.
Shaw said Griffin instituted a computer math program to his courses, with the drawback that the school had no computers.
"In 1997 [sic], Griffin was promoted to assistant principal and describes it as the worst job he's ever had," Shaw said. Griffin requested a transfer to the district's warehouse and purchasing department, where he implemented a computerized asset accounting system and warehouse inventory system. In 1987 Griffin was promoted to director of business services.
Two years later, the board named him interim superintendent [after they bought out the contract of Superintendent Linda Woodward]. When a permanent superintendent was named [Hugh Hayes], Griffin became assistant superintendent for support services, and was responsible for bringing local area networks and Internet connections to all of the district's campuses.
Following his retirement in 1999, Shaw said, Griffin continues to work as a school business consultant and travels extensively with his wife, Ada.
Shaw said he worked with Griffin for several years, even before Shaw was on the board, adding that it was "a great honor' for him to make the motion.
Following the board's unanimous vote, Superintendent Leonard Merrell said of Griffin that "no one was more dedicated to Katy ISD or more conscientious."
Merrell said that even today, people in the district refer to Griffin as "Mr. TASBO," a referring to his extensive contacts with Texas Association of School Business Officials.
"I'm delighted that you named Elementary 27 after Mike," Merrell said.
Griffin and his wife, Ada, had been contacted prior to the meeting and were asked to come. While the naming of the school came relatively late in the proceedings, they still had not arrived before the meeting adjourned.
Shortly afterward, though, the couple arrived, and Merrell informed them of the action.
"I'm actually kind of speechless," Griffin said. "I can't begin to tell you what this means. I can't think of a single honor that would be greater."
Griffin said he knows many of the people after whom Katy schools are named, and "even to be considered on that scale is awesome, indescribable."
"I hope that I will do the district proud over the years," he said, to which Merrell rejoined, "You will."
Katy ISD administrative secretary Kathy Adams, who worked for Griffin for several years, put his name forward. She said she has known him since they went to Katy High School together.
"He just dedicated his whole life to Katy. He was a prime candidate, a worthy candidate. I'm very happy for him," Adams said.
[Of all the schools or school buildings named for KISD administrators, this one being named for Mike Griffin is one of the most deserving.]