Cockrill takes LISD’s top spot

By LPR Staff
Editor/POST-REGISTER

After three months of searching and consideration, the Lockhart Independent School District Board of Trustees announced last week that Jack E. Cockrill, of Kerrville, was named the district’s Long-Term Interim Superintendent.
Cockrill, who earned a Doctorate of Education from Texas A&M University – Commerce, began

his work with the district on Sept. 27. By Monday morning, he had met each campus principal, and visited five of the district’s nine campuses, as well as meeting with several administrators and board members.
“I’m excited to be here and to get started working in this district,” he said Monday morning. “My main goal is to come in for the time that I’m here and be a positive influence on the administrators, teachers and students.”
Cockrill’s excitement and enthusiasm about his new position was evident in his voice, his demeanor and his words.
“I know that there are challenges in this district and this district is growing,” he said. “But if there weren’t challenges, it wouldn’t be any fun.”
Cockrill officially “retired” in 1999, after 11 years as Superintendent of Schools in McKinney, Texas, Four years as superintendent in Kerrville, and eight years as superintendent inGilmer, Texas. Prior to accepting superintendent positions, he was an assistant superintendent, principal, teacher and coach for more than 15 years in Plano. All told, he has been an educator for more than 40 years.
“I never really ‘retired,’ though,” he said. “After we left McKinney, we [Cockrill and his wife of 50 years, Nancy] moved to Kerrville, and then we had to go about building the house.”
Rather than taking part in the design, building and decoration of their home, Cockrill opted instead to accept a position as Interim Superintendent of the Kerrvillle Independent School District. He recalls the memory with a laugh.
“I knew my wife could handle all that better than I could, and I was only supposed to be in the position for a few months.”
Cockrill remained the Long Term Interim Superintendent in Kerrville for nearly a full school year.
Since his last stint in Kerrville, Cockrill has been a consultant and long-term interim superintendent in other districts. He said he has no desire to seek a full-time position.
“I really don’t want to go back to work full time,” he said. “I have a ball doing what I do, going into new districts and getting to know people and helping the best I can to smooth the way for new leadership.”
Cockrill maintains his passion for continuing to work in schools in an interim capacity stems from his love for meeting the people he is to lead.
“In all of the communities I’ve ever been in, I can say without a doubt that the people involved in the schools are the best people in town,” he said. “From the teachers and administrators and board members that you know are there because they care, to the parents involved in the PTAs and booster clubs, to the students. They are all just the greatest people, and I’m truly blessed that my line of work lets me get to know so many wonderful and diverse people.”
Lockhart, he said, is no exception.
“In the short time I’ve been here, I have had the chance to meet the administration here at Central Office, and the principals and several teachers at the five or six campuses I’ve visited,” he said. “And I’ve been constantly impressed with the climate and the culture in this district – I’m sure that the teachers and support staff are among the best people in the community. There’s no question in my mind.”
And Cockrill looks to be a district leader worthy of such a community.