Georgetown ISD Superintendent Joe Dan Lee and board of trustees President Scott Alarcon both took on leadership roles in the district two years ago. Lee returned as superintendent and Alarcon joined the board as a member before becoming board president for the 2011–12 school year. During their tenure in leadership, the school district has seen unprecedented reductions in funding from the state as well as reductions in federal funding.
Lee served as superintendent from 2004–07 before leaving to work for the Texas Association of School Boards for three years. Alarcon was elected to the board in May 2010. He currently works as CEO of the Georgetown Health Foundation and is a member of the Lone Star Circle of Care board of directors.
How was the first year with two high schools in the district?
Joe Dan Lee: I visited a lot of schools the year before that had just recently gone from one to two and heard their horror stories about how difficult it was. I was told it would be one of the most difficult things I've done in my career, and I didn't find that to be the case at all. Our staff jumped on board and put together a great transition plan, and I think the reason the transition has gone as smooth as it has is because our new high school with our ninth and 10th graders have had great success not only academically but also in their extracurricular activities.
We had great success at both high schools, so in my opinion, it's absolutely exceeded my expectations.
Scott Alarcon: I think going from one high school to two high schools in any community can be controversial and contentious, and there were certainly a lot of concerns. What we said, and particularly what Joe Dan said, was, 'Give us an opportunity to show you what we can provide for your children.' In retrospect and in communication I hear from parents and family members of East View [High School] students, they couldn't be happier with what's going on there—the climate, the culture, the success academically as well as athletically.
How have all the changes in the district affected the students, and what is the district doing to lessen the impact?
Lee: It is a lot of change, and one of the messages we are trying to send out is that the renovations at Georgetown High School are going to be the most challenging project out of all these that we've done. We are working with our contractor, the architect and our leadership at Georgetown High School, and we have a really good plan put together on how we are going to transition the students.
McCoy [Elementary School] is coming along and will be open this fall. It's going to be a really great facility and something new to Georgetown. It's just taken a lot of planning, and I don't want to tout our staff too much, but I don't think the general public understands the amount of time that we spend making sure that it doesn't disrupt what we are trying to do for our students.
Alarcon: McCoy right now is third through fifth grade. When we move in the fall, it will be K–5. There was a period of time where there was literature that suggested pre-K through [second grade] and then third through fifth [grade] was the best model, but more recently, we have found that fewer transitions are better. So I think over time, as we have the opportunity, and in a fiscally responsible manner, we are going to look at re-evaluating each of the elementary campuses that are not K–5 and studying how we might convert those.
You both took on roles in the district two years ago. How has it been for you as superintendent and school board president during such a difficult time for the district?
Alarcon: Some of those things that maybe happen once in a generation happened in the first two years.
We've tried to be responsible stewards of the resources we've been given. It has been hard. I have less hair than I did two years ago, but the work is meaningful and challenging, and that's OK. I don't feel overburdened. I feel like we've got seven people [on the school board] as well as a superintendent who are all having the same direction and vision.
I think if I would want folks to know one thing, it would be that we are trying to balance the needs of the students and the needs of the community equally.
Lee: These last two years have been challenging and interesting because something that a lot of people really don't understand is we've had more major events happen in this school district in the last two years than some people have happen in their career. I've been in this business 35 years, and the last two years have been a career's worth of events. We started in November 2010 with the largest bond issue that this district had ever proposed. Then we take that and move into implementing the projects that were included in that bond package, and then we decide we are going to transition into that second high school in the same year. Then about the time we decide to that, we are notified that we are receiving the largest reduction in the history of public education. Then we have to go into staff reductions, and all that happened in one year.
We knew we were going to get another significant reduction in our state and federal monies in the second year of the biennium.
Honestly, the second round of budget and staff reductions was smaller than the first but more difficult. There were places that we could go and make reductions in year one that weren't available to us in year two.
The thing that I'm very pleased about here at GISD is I think I can look at any of our taxpayers in the eye and say we've tried to run this school as efficiently as we possibly can, and to this point I don't think we've decreased the effectiveness of it. I think we still offer quality programs and services to our students. I would not hesitate to put my child on any campus in this district.
