Lockhart ISD loses top leaders

Board president, superintendent resign

By LPR Staff
Editor/POST-REGISTER

Two of the top names in LISD leadership delivered shocking news to the LISD Board of Trustees this week. Board president and District Two representative Gary Allen resigned his position on the school board on Thursday, Feb. 21, and newly-hired superintendent Tom Bailey stepped down

just four days later.
During a brief interview Thursday afternoon, Allen said he believed he had served the district”s students and taxpayers to the best of his ability, but felt the time was right to step down. In a written statement to the district, he said, “It is my opinion that we have the administrative leadership in place to be successful in our goal to provide the best education possible to the students of the district.”
Allen wished the students , parents and the district well, and thanked his constituency for the giving him the opportunity to serve.
Mere hours after the board accepted Allen”s resignation during their regularly scheduled meeting on Monday evening, Bailey, too, resigned, giving the trustees notice that he intended to part company with LISD effective May 31, 2008.
“It was a difficult decision to make,” Bailey said on Tuesday morning. “But I simply don”t feel that my being in this position at this time, is a good fit.”
Though he declined to cite specific reasons for his decision, Bailey said he and his wife had planned to make a permanent home in Lockhart, and he did not have another position lined up when he tendered his resignation.
“We”ve been extremely grateful to the community for embracing us with open arms and offering us a home community so quickly,” Bailey said. “We”ll never regret our decision to move here and we feel blessed that our path led us here. There are some issues the district needs to sort out, and I decided to stay on until the end of May, not only to give the board time to review their options, but also so I would have the time to finish some of the things I started here.”
In a statement issued Tuesday afternoon, LISD said the board would schedule a meeting in the near future to discuss Bailey”s resignation, but the meeting had not been set at press time.
Community outcry over Bailey”s resignation started early on Tuesday, with district employees and parents alike confused and distraught over recent developments and board members frustrated and concerned. With four board seats up for election in just two months, this week”s events have the potential to shape the outcome of those elections.
As of Monday evening, only six candidates, including two incumbents, had picked up application packets to apply for places on the May 10, 2008 ballot. Only two of those had returned the applications.
The deadline to file an application to run for the LISD Board of Trustees is March 10, 2008.