Lawrence "Lance" Hindt and his wife, Kathryn, pose with members of the Katy ISD board of trustees at a special meeting June 10. Hindt, a 1983 graduate of KISD's Taylor High School, was named as the lone finalist for the district's superintendent position.[/caption]Lawrence “Lance” Hindt is coming home.
A 1983 graduate of Katy ISD’s Taylor High School, Hindt was selected Friday by the KISD board of trustees as the lone finalist for the district’s superintendent position following a special board meeting that spanned several hours.
Hindt—who has served as the superintendent of Allen ISD since March of 2014—was chosen from a pool of 26 candidates. He has a long history of education in the Greater Houston area, having worked as a teacher, principal and assistant superintendent at the Fort Bend ISD as well as superintendent at the Stafford Municipal School District.
Lawrence "Lance" Hindt[/caption]Denisse Cantu Coffman, the district’s director of communications, said Hindt has accepted the position but an official employment contract has not been finalized. Hindt is set to begin work on Aug. 1, taking over for Alton Frailey, who announced his retirement in January after nine years as superintendent, she said.
“[Hindt] has so many characteristics that stood out, and—to every question we asked—his answers were exactly what Katy ISD needs, but I think the most [important] is his heart—his heart for Katy,” said Rebecca Fox, president of the KISD board of trustees. “He understands our community, he helped create our community.”
Hindt said that he is excited to be returning to KISD over three decades later.
“Thirty-three years later, in my profession, I get to come home and give back to a community and a school district that did so much for me,” he said. “It’s beyond description of what that means to me and my family.”
Fox said that she is eager for Hindt to join the KISD team.
“I care about us being a cohesive unit because it matters that our school board works together because without that we don’t have the vision and we don’t have the same path,” she said. “We have to be rowing in the same direction, we have to have the same vision and we will work together. We have seven incredible people who care about this community.”
Hindt acknowledged KISD’s strong reputation and said that the district shines in and outside of the classroom in areas like athletics, clubs and organizations. He said that his biggest challenge will be to continue moving the district in the right direction.
“The difficulty with a high performing school district is to not meet with complacency,” Hindt said. “So, over the next few months—maybe six months—we’re going to take a look at all the data sets that we have to set a direction of where we want to go in the future. And that’s going to be a collective vision of community members, staff and even students. This is where we’re at today, and where do we want to be in the future?”
