09/07/2026
A message from the Superintendent: Irrefutable facts
There have been recent articles in The Baytown Sun that irresponsibly portray our education foundation and, indirectly, our school district. I have done my best not to be drawn into social media sensationalism, but unsubstantiated, slanderous comments need to be addressed.
Our foundation has been a point of pride for our community for 17 years, until one of our board members ran against our state representative, and 100 percent of this negativity is a result of that.
What is equally concerning is that the baseless allegations would be made without one single fact, and that a local newspaper would print such allegations without doing their due diligence.
I would normally use The Baytown Sun to communicate my response, but they have been so irresponsibly one-sided that I have chosen to message directly to our Barbers Hill community.
Texas A&M and the University of Texas are among the best university systems in the nation. One of the primary reasons is the Permanent University Fund, which is considered “one of our state’s most unique, important, and enduring competitive advantages.”
State leaders prioritized higher education by establishing these endowment funds, which are now the nation’s largest and are a great benefit to the Texas taxpayer.
The leaders of Barbers Hill Independent School District had the same foresight and wisely established an endowment fund for our school district. It likewise is the largest public-school endowment fund in the nation and is a great benefit to the Barbers Hill taxpayer.
This is a monumental accomplishment, but it seems not everyone outside of the district is happy about our success.
I am in my 21st year as superintendent of the finest school district in Texas. I suppose other school districts would make such a claim, but I can support the claim with irrefutable facts.
Irrefutable facts are a comfort in a social media age where opinions are paraded as factual. I recently sent a message to our parents applauding the work of our staff and students, which produced the highest academic accountability score (93) in the state of any comparable school district and the fourth highest in the state of any traditional district our size or larger. I also pointed out that our nation-leading education foundation was receiving criticism that was not factual.
My message to our parents was not a press release or an attempt to politicize anything, yet it received commentary in The Baytown Sun from a state representative who does not represent our district.
I am going to give her the benefit of the doubt that she has been misled by others. Here I present the following irrefutable facts that address her baseless allegations.
1. She alleged that activity by the foundation has been detrimental to Barbers Hill staff.
We pay the highest teacher salaries and have for the last 20 years. A teacher retiring in our school district will receive $2,000 more a month in their pension compared to the state average!
Our teacher turnover rate is one of the lowest in the entire state. That speaks volumes about the way our board of trustees prioritizes those in the classroom.
2. She alleges that the foundation has acted illegally and the public has been harmed.
These are slanderous allegations, but what is equally concerning is that an elected official would make such allegations without supplying one single fact. Every foundation transaction in question was legal and approved by the comptroller of Texas. This is an irrefutable fact. Our foundation utilizes the same audit firm the school district does and has received clean audits every year of its existence. This is an irrefutable fact.
Our foundation has had annual returns of over 10% after fees are deducted for each of the last 17 years. And every penny of that will go to the benefit of our district students and taxpayers. This is an irrefutable fact.
We have approximately $100 million in earnings from these returns, and every penny of that goes to the benefit of our district students, staff and taxpayers.
Our district truly is one of the finest in the state, and our foundation, despite baseless allegations, will help ensure that local leaders control the appropriate resources to ensure our excellence for generations to come.
