Palestine ISD School Board Named 2014 Regional Board of the Year

Great News About Education Leadership in East Texas

Article by Ashley Patterson, Region 7 ESC Communication Specialist

In its quest to molding its district into a “world class academic organization,” the Palestine ISD Board of Trustees has been named as the Region 7 Education Service Center’s 2014 School Board of the Year and will serve as the regional representative in this year’s Texas Association of School Administrators (TASA) School Board Awards Program.

“Anytime you’re honored it’s a humbling experience, but a honor like this means more than just having a great school board,” said Palestine ISD’s school board president, Stanley Sokolowski. “It also means having a great superintendent, administrative team, and school district that are all working together to make the school board special.”

The TASA School Board Awards Program recognizes school boards whose dedication and ethical service have made a positive impact on Texas students. Of the regional nominations submitted, the state awards committee will select five school boards to serve as this year’s Texas Honor Boards. One of those five school boards will then be named as the Texas Outstanding Board at the TASA/TASB convention in Dallas Sept. 26-28.

“The Palestine ISD school board has certainly proven to be a tight-knit group that puts the needs of its students, staff and community first,” said Region 7 ESC Executive Director Elizabeth Abernethy. “The board members and their superintendent deserve to be commended for their efforts in bettering the learning environment and educational opportunities for their district. We are proud to have this group represent the Region 7 area.”

Palestine ISD Superintendent Jason Marshall

Palestine ISD Superintendent Jason Marshall nominated the board for the award stating that they “are as good as any school board in the country.”

“Three things jumped out at me quickly about the Palestine ISD Board of Trustees including their commitment to student success, their responsiveness to the needs of Palestine, Texas, and their desire to adhere to their five-year strategic plan,” Marshall said of the board in regard to first signing on as superintendent in 2011. “I can honestly say that when confronted with a difficult decision, they resoundingly respond, ‘If it’s best for students, we will support it.’”

All of which Marshall agrees is needed in order for Palestine ISD to continue on its path to becoming a “world class academic organization.”


“In 2008, the board envisioned a transformation for the students of Palestine ISD,” said Marshall. “At the forefront of this vision were district-wide facilities improvements, recognizing new technologies essential to student learning, and pursuing academic excellence for all students. Throughout this transformation process, the board has shown commitment to their belief that every student deserves excellence.”



The facilities improvements were achieved through a successful tax ratification election and a $64 million bond election in May 2009. Since the passage of the bond, three of the district’s six campuses have received new construction, renovations have taken place at every campus, and an older campus was renovated into new administrative offices for the district.

In addition, through a Design-Build Project that utilized remaining 2009 bond dollars and the district’s fund balance, the high school’s career and technical education building received repairs and classroom restructuring, as well as a new softball field.

Marshall said the success of the bond election was a result of the school board hiring his predecessor, who created a bond package that could be supported and paid for by taxpayers, as well as the board’s ongoing efforts in communicating with the community and providing information regarding the bond.

“I believe it’s important for a district to be successful with their bond election the first time they put the facility package up for a vote,” said Marshall. “Many times I have seen districts have to scale back their facility plan when their original bond was not passed by voters. The Palestine ISD board avoided and overcame typical challenges faced by districts by being visible in the community, by being truthful and realistic about the overall bond package, and by communicating with the superintendent, architect, and construction company in order to provide timely and accurate information.”

One unique initiative the school board played an integral role in supporting was the 2012 opening of Wildcat University at Palestine High School. Wildcat University provides students with an on-campus opportunity to take dual credit courses and graduate from high school with the core courses it would need to complete as a student at the Palestine Trinity Valley Community College campus.

With the help of Wildcat University in the 2012-13 school year, Palestine High School students earned more than 1,800 college hours, and 14 graduates had completed their freshman year of college prior to their high school graduation.

“Without the board’s willingness to support the large yearly expenditures for dual credit and their support for the district to seek grant funding, it would have been difficult to make Wildcat University a reality,” Marshall said.

As for many districts, finding funding for programs and resources that extend beyond what state and federal funding provides for has been challenging, but the Palestine ISD board has supported its educators in seeking and obtaining grants that will offer supplemental learning opportunities for its students.

“If a district wants anything more than the basics, they must look for additional funding sources,” said Marshall. “Our board certainly understands this, and they continue supporting the hiring of staff that will look for these funding sources. Our board has also been instrumental in allowing district- and campus-level staff members the freedom to experiment, which encourages them to go after ideas and funding to help foster the ‘whole child.’”

To be exact, the district has secured over $14 million in grants or pledged grants over the past three years to help fund more extensive learning opportunities and resources for students. Some of the funds are enhancing the district’s 1 to 1 Technology Initiative, which is aimed at increasing the use of technology in the districtwide instructional program and providing each student in the district with an iPad.

In 2013-14, 850 high school students and 450 junior high students received iPads. Students at the district’s AM Story Intermediate School will also receive iPads in the fall of 2014.

“The goal is to give students access to learning 24 hours a day, seven days a week,” said Marshall.

Additionally, Marshall said the board is deserving of this award because they also are responsive to the needs of the employees and the community.

“Employees have received additional or supplemental health coverage, small pay increases, retention incentives and assistance with their personal financing,” he said. “

Sokolowski said the Palestine ISD school board has a great working relationship with Marshall, which is crucial to the continued success of any district.

“The school board has to have a superintendent they can trust in managing the day-to-day operations of the district and in bringing them all the information they need to make informed decisions,” said Sokolowski. “The superintendent has to have a school board that has the best interest of the children in mind and also has to trust that the school board will make intelligent, informed decisions that benefit the school district.”

Sokolowski went on to state that the Palestine community and other district employees have also helped the board in achieving so much success.

“The community had to come together and decide that the future of their children was important enough to them to pass the bond election,” he said. “Furthermore, it took many dedicated Palestine ISD employees to help accomplish these other milestones. Numerous people were involved in grant writing, planning, and implementing these programs. When you have these types of employees, it makes a school board’s job easy.”

Current board member and former board president Wade Hobbs echoed Sokolowski and Marshall’s sentiments.

“I could not be more proud of the district’s accomplishments in the last several years,” Hobbs said. “When I joined the board, there were things that needed to be addressed to make Palestine ISD a great school district. I believe those have been addressed and much more has been added. We set out to make our district a beacon of East Texas, and I believe we have become a beacon for the nation.”

For more information about the state school board awards, visit http://www.tasanet.org/domain/55.