Longview ISD trustees on Tuesday evening unanimously approved Marla Sheppard, deputy chief of academics at KIPP Texas Public Schools in Houston, as the district’s lone finalist for superintendent.
At KIPP, Sheppard oversees “the academic strategy, curriculum, instruction, assessment, and professional development for over 23,000 students and 1,000-plus teachers across 33 schools,” according to her bio on LinkedIn.
The motion to hire Sheppard was led by Trustee Samir Germanwala and seconded by Trustee Brett Miller.
If hired after a mandatory 21-day waiting period, Sheppard will be the first Black woman to lead Longview ISD and the second woman.
“I am honored to be chosen to serve the Longview community,” she said Tuesday night in a statement delivered through board President Michael Tubb. “I am grateful to the board for their trust in me, and I look forward to creating long-lasting relationships with the students, staff and greater community.”
Tubb said meetings for the public and LISD employees to meet Sheppard would be scheduled following the Memorial Day weekend.
“We are going to get her up here to the Longview community to have an introduction,” Tubb said.
Sheppard previously was deputy superintendent at Kansas City Public Schools in Missouri, where she “led the transformation of the district’s academic performance, culture, and equity resulting in the district becoming fully accredited for the first time in over 20 years,” according to LinkedIn.
She has a Doctor of Education in Professional Leadership from the University of Houston.
“Her experience” is what set her apart from the other candidates, Tubb said.
Tubb had been impressed with the original 35 applicants, and trustees chose to interview five of them before naming Sheppard the lone finalist.
Kansas City Public Schools has 14,500 students compared with Longview ISD’s approximately 8,000.
“She has dealt with large school districts in the past in a leadership capacity and had tremendous success in those districts,” Tubb said.
Sheppard worked in Kansas City from 2017-21. Tubb said she’s from Houston, though, and returned to Houston to care for her mother. Her mother was ill and has since died, Tubb said.
Sheppard has been with KIPP ever since returning to Houston. KIPP in the Houston area has more than 30 schools with more than 21,000 students. It’s comprised of 71 percent Hispanic students, about 25 percent Black students, about 20 percent white students and about 90 percent economically disadvantaged students.
After she is officially hired by the district, Sheppard will replace Superintendent James Wilcox.
Tubb said Sheppard has dealt with a lot of the same issues that Longview ISD sees.
“She has plenty of experience,” he said. “She’s incredibly competitive. There’s a sense of urgency about her, and I admire that.”
“It’s just an exciting time for Longview ISD,” Tubb added.
Wilcox has overseen the district since 2007 when he was hired from Waxahachie ISD. He announced his retirement the first time in 2011, but he was rehired by the board in 2012 to work part-time as superintendent. He began receiving Teacher Retirement System benefits then.
Wilcox announced his retirement again in September.
In other business, the board during its Monday meeting heard presentations from two firms it could end up hiring to help implement and build projects in the $456.2 million, five proposition bond package that voters approved earlier this month.
Longview ISD is negotiating with Dallas based DLR Group, which provides architectural, engineering and other services, and Valkert, which is headquartered in Mobile, Alabama, to serve in a project management role.
Both organizations have years of experience with similar projects as are in Longview’s bond package.
It’s possible because of the size of the bond package that the projects could be divided among different firms to oversee the overall program as well as design and construct the projects.
Information the district provided earlier said Wayne Guidry, assistant superintendent of finance, previously explained to trustees that various construction delivery methods like construction manager at risk, job order contracting, and design-build could be utilized based on the architect’s guidance for each project type — new construction, renovations, single projects, simple projects or district-led initiatives.
Projects will be organized into three groups: new construction with designated companies; renovations potentially bundled with single/simple projects; and district-led work.
“Immediate priorities include securing Longview High with fencing, then fast-tracking the new Career and Technical Education building and multi-purpose facility to create space for subsequent high school renovations and capitalize on economies of scale. Other projects will follow standard design and construction timelines,” the district previously reported.
