Argyle ISD Superintendent Telena Wright will retire effective at the end of June, and at the Argyle ISD board meeting May 15, she was praised by board members as well as from a former trustee and former district staffer during public forum.

The board approved renaming the current administration building after Wright.

How we got here: Wright has worked for the district for 23 years and has been superintendent since 2009. The board approved her retirement agreement May 1. She first joined AISD as the Argyle High School principal in 2000 after serving at Marcus High School in Lewisville ISD, according to a district news release. She became the AISD assistant superintendent in 2003, interim superintendent in 2008 and was named superintendent in January 2009.

What trustees are saying: Board President Sam Slaton said Wright’s help and knowledge were “invaluable” to him and that he appreciated her support individually during his time as a member and board president.

“I’m grateful for that time,” he said, adding he appreciates her service to his wife, who is an educator in the district, and his children who have attended Argyle schools.

The background: Slaton told Community Impact that the board has hired a search firm, Leasor Crass, which can provide guidance on how a district can conduct a superintendent search.

“Part of that is having nine special meetings in total to go through this process, and that’s from the start all the way to a board meeting [to announce] a lone finalist,” Slaton said.

The board held its kickoff meeting last week, and meetings will continue over the next two months. The next meeting will be May 25.

“Everyone in the community will see that there will be special meetings, so there are different parts of the process,” he said.

What’s next: At last week’s meeting, held May 8, Leasor Crass compiled survey results from the community, from Argyle ISD staff and faculty as well as Argyle central administration and the Argyle ISD board. The survey revealed common themes of what the community, staff, central administration and board were looking for in a superintendent candidate. Leasor Crass will bring the best 12 candidates to the board, Slaton said.

No hasty decisions will be made on the superintendent, Slaton said.

“Leasor Crass is quite confident [of] us being a destination district, that we’re not going to have any problems in being able to name a lone finalist by the third, fourth week in June,” he said.

Trustees are excited about the process for finding a new leader and are sad to see Wright leave, Slaton said, but he said the board will be able to find “what everyone is looking for in the next superintendent of the district.”