After several months of searching, New Caney ISD’s board of trustees named Matt Calvert as the district’s lone finalist for superintendent at its March 15 meeting.

“The reason [my family] chose this place to be our home is because of what you people in this room, what these people here on the board do and just our community as a whole,” Calvert said. “So this is not just a job; it's not just a resume; it’s our home; it’s the place we're raising our kids, and our kids are getting a great education.”

NCISD board President Chad Turner said Calvert has worked with the district since 2014 as executive director of finance and then deputy superintendent. He was then named interim superintendent after former Superintendent Kenn Franklin resigned Nov. 16. Franklin was later booked at the Montgomery County Jail and charged with aggregate theft by a public servant, a third-degree felony, and tampering with a government record, which is a state jail felony.

Although no one mentioned Franklin, Turner alluded to the struggles the district has faced in the last few months.

“I believe that everybody did the homework that they needed to do to get us to the point where we came to the decision that we're at, I think that I appreciate you, Mr. Calvert, for being very open because there were some very difficult questions that we needed answered from us,” Turner said. “Mr. Calvert has been doing a great job for us, honestly from last year, and we've been moving in the right direction. And we're excited as a group to see where we're gonna go now.”