Frailey—who spent the last nine years as KISD’s superintendent and retired in May to cap a 33-year career in public education—was instrumental in the creation of the Katy ISD Education Foundation, said Janet Theis, the foundation's administrative liaison who also serves as the director of community partnerships for KISD.
“Frailey built this foundation to last,” Theis said. “His vision was that the education foundation will always be here and always be a critical part of Katy ISD’s success. It’s so fitting that [the endowment fund] carries his name because it was his vision that started this organization and put school district resources behind it.”
From Left: Former Katy ISD superintendent Alton Frailey; Tom Gunnell, KISD's chief operations officer; and Ken Janda, board president of the KISD Education Foundation, were on hand June 15 to announce the new endowment.[/caption]Frailey said he was both honored and surprised by the unveiling of the Alton Frailey Endowment Fund on June 15, which was designed to help provide financial support to the foundation’s operations and its Inspiring Imagination teacher grant program—an effort that has given $725,000 in grant money to teachers over the last four years.
“[I] feel truly honored, but not from a personal standpoint,” Frailey said. “This is not to have my name live on after me. This is to set in place the beginnings—with a very good investment—of resources to help sustain the foundation; generate revenue above and beyond the personal giving campaigns.”
KISD improved its Texas Education Association ranking from mid-level to the highest possible distinction under Frailey and has grown to nearly 75,000 students.
Frailey said due to the district’s fast-paced growth and elite reputation, he urged his colleagues to form the education foundation to help set the tone for a positive atmosphere and to further establish KISD as a major player in Texas public education.
“Having a foundation—and all the energy that’s generated from it—that creates a positive, enabling atmosphere,” he said. “And, when you have that, the creative juices just begin to flow.”
Theis and Frailey both said once the foundation was formed, they were pleased with how many of the district’s teachers immediately presented ideas for grant consideration. Frailey said even those teachers who do not receive grants have grown to appreciate the foundation’s investment in their peers and the overall vision of the district.
“We started on the hunch that, if we open that opportunity to teachers, that they will respond,” Theis said. “And they did. They don’t go research and look for ideas; they have them. They know exactly what they want to do with their students and their classrooms, and so these funds that the community provides through the foundation makes that possible where it wasn’t before.”
Contributions to the fund are currently being accepted and are tax-deductible being that the education foundation is a 501(c)(3) organization.
Frailey will officially pass the torch to his successor, Dr. Lance Hindt, on Aug. 1, but said he is excited to remain involved with KISD—an opportunity afforded to him by the foundation and now his endowment fund.
“Now that I’m no longer in the school system—I’m in the community now—then I’ve got to do for [Hindt] what I’ve wanted folks to do for me,” he said. “And that’s provide whatever support is needed; whatever feedback he needs from me, I’m more than happy to do it. I have great confidence in him and his abilities to take us to the next level, and I’m here to do whatever he would need me to do or want me to do to support his work.”
