Following a special meeting held Monday evening, the Levelland ISD (LISD) School Board announced Dr. Donald Heseman as the lone finalist for the superintendent position.
Heseman currently serves as the superintendent at West Hardin CCISD. Prior to his superintendent role, he served as a principal at Clyde ISD from 2020-2023. From 2013-2022, Heseman was a teacher/ coach and then an assistant principal for Abilene ISD.
Heseman received his Bachelor of Arts (History) from Texas Tech University in 2008. In 2016, he would earn his Master’s of Education Administration from Lamar University. Heseman would also earn a Doctor of Educational Leadership from Lamar University in 2024.
Moving forward, a 21-day waiting period is mandated by the state now that a lone finalist has been selected. LISD School Board President Carrie Ellis explained that the waiting period also allows all parties to ensure they are confident in their decisions. Staying true to the timeline they [the Board] had set, the group expects to hold their next regular meeting on August 20 where they will hire the next superintendent for LISD.
In selecting Heseman as the lone finalist, Ellis highlighted his experience in leading curriculum, his administration experience and what he can provide.
“We had great candidates and the process is always difficult trying to determine what is best for the kids, what is best for the community and what are our needs our,” explained Ellis. “We went through all of the internal applicants. We thought that was really important given the pressure from the community and from our last search we didn’t have an internal candidate.”
A difficult decision which resulted in the selection of Heseman, Ellis explained the Board still feels that the internal candidates are doing an outstanding job and are excited to keep them aboard.
Leaning on the collective effort of the Board to choose a quality candidate, Ellis highlighted the cohesiveness of the group.
“I think some of us that had not gone through this process before will say it was very hard,” said Ellis. “We did not interview any bad candidates. They are all good candidates and it involves a lot of research and discussion. Each interview included a debrief between the Board and it was surprising easily to come to a consensus on who we thought was the best person to meet the biggest needs of the district.”
Ellis added that some of those needs are in academic performance and community frustration.
“Maybe we need to bring everyone back to the table. I don’t believe we are all rowing the boat in same direction,” said Ellis. “How do we bring someone in to help us all row in the same direction? I think we can get there and can accomplish so much more when we are rowing in the same direction.
As the Board continues to work to bring in the new superintendent, Interim Superintendent David Foote is working behind the scenes to address the budget for the upcoming year.
Foote began his tenure on May 27.
“One of the biggest needs that I failed to mention was the budget,” said Ellis. “While they are working to nail down the budget they are also working through legislative updates. There is just a ton of them and more guidance is coming out by the day on all kinds of things.
“Many of them are financial. They are trying to work through what they mean for us and when do these updates go into affect. They are trying to juggle all of those new things.”
With the budget cycle, Ellis noted that there are several discussions and decisions that need to be had.
In regards to staffing, Ellis shared that the district is almost complete with a handful of positions still open.
Another topic that remains up for discussion is the potential for raises.
The district is still working with FEMA from the storm damage from a year ago. The distrist is still looking at fixes that need to be made and reimbursement that is still being worked through.
“It feels like there is a lot of pressure on this cycle on how we are balancing all those pieces,” said Ellis.