LACKLAND AIR FORCE BASE, Texas –
The Lackland Independent School District was the recipient of the 2008 H-E-B Excellence in Education Award in the small school district category.
The school district is one of three districts in the state that were finalists for the award.
Dr. David Splitek, Lackland ISD superintendent, Lackland Elementary School Principal Kay Norton and Stacey High School Principal Dr. Burnie Roper were on hand on May 5 in Houston to receive the award.
In addition to the honor, the school district was awarded $50,000.
A panel of judges from the H-E-B award committee visited the campuses on March 10 to review the school's merits.
The visit featured a tour of both schools and a discussion over lunch with teachers, students, community members and principals.
To win the award, a school district must excel in numerous ways, including having innovative plans, an impeccable academic record, numerous extracurricular programs and quality instruction.
In 2007, Lackland ISD was the only "Recognized" school district in Bexar County.
In order to be recognized by the Texas Education Agency, a school or school district must have a 75 percent pass rate on every portion of the Texas Assessment of Knowledge Skills test, an 85 percent completion rate, and a 0.7 percent dropout rate or less. The district also earned a Recognized rating in 2006.
In 2007, Lackland Elementary School was awarded an "Exemplary" distinction for having at least 90 percent of its students pass every section of the TAKS.
Stacey High School narrowly missed the same distinguished recognition by falling 1 percentage point short in the mathematics portion of the test, thus granting the school and the district the Recognized ranking.
These distinctions are not easy to come by, especially for a school that has large numbers of students transfer in and out of the district throughout the year because of parent or guardian permanent change of station moves and reassignments.
Still, the district has managed to remain stable and administer quality instruction despite the challenges that the district faces.