A Week Into the Job, New LGISD Leader Talks Staff Feedback Plan, His Connection to Uvalde

New La Grange Superintendent Matthew “Andy” McHazlett arrived for his first day of work last Wednesday, June 1.

“I’m learning we have a hard-working staff,” McHazlett said. “They’re passionate about doing a great job. The exciting part is they’re doing a lot of wonderful things already at La Grange I.S.D. There’s some things we’re going to work on to improve as well.”

McHazlett said he’s spent his first week on the job interviewing key personnel.

“I’m telling them to bring me three awesome things that we’re doing as a district right now and also three things that we need to pay a little more attention to or improve,” he said.

McHazlett said he plans to eventually speak with everyone who works for the district.

“Once school begins, I’d like to have what I call a ‘lunch and listen,’” he said. “I’ll be going to the campuses and listening to the teachers – to understand them, not reply to them – to get a good perspective of what they’re going through in the classroom. My goal is to end up giving everyone in the district an opportunity to converse with me.”

McHazlett said the district’s biggest assets include the recent facility upgrades, a strong curriculum, technology and cyber security.

“As far as improvements, communication between different levels in the organization is something we need to work on,” McHazlett said. “We’ve got to do a really good job of communicating.”

Uvalde Connection

McHazlett comes to La Grange from La Pryor I.S.D., where he served as superintendent. La Pryor, located 20 miles from Uvalde, was not just McHazlett’s last job. He grew up there. The school massacre in Uvalde unfolded as McHazlett and his wife Janna were preparing to move here.

“It was one of the most devastating things I’ve gone through in education,” McHazlett said. “We’re 20 miles away, and our communities are very intertwined. The majority of our staff commutes from Uvalde. So many of our community members and staff members were related to someone who did not make it through that day.”

McHazlett said he took his school counselors from La Pryor to Uvalde the day after the shooting.

“Dr. (Hal) Harrell, the superintendent in Uvalde, is a really good friend of mine,” McHazlett said. “We just offered our support. I volunteered passing out food and water. I’m not a counselor, but I tried to serve as much as I could. Seeing the pain in the teachers’ faces and the shock still the very next day, it was devastating for our staff.”

McHazlett said La Pryor I.S.D. went on lockdown the day of the shooting as well.

“We didn’t know if it was a multi-school incident or if it was an isolated incident,” McHazlett said. “Our protocols were to lock our school down until we knew what’s going on. We heard it unfold on the radio of our school resource officer. It was bone-chilling, the things that were going on. Knowing how we felt 20 miles away, I can’t imaging what the staff at Robb Elementary was going through at that time.

“Regardless of how you train and the drills you go through, you can’t simulate what happens in that moment,” he said. “You go into survival mode and try and protect your little ones. The teachers and the heroes who rose up get overshadowed by the person who caused all that. We have to remember there’s a lot of good in the world – all the people coming out, the volunteers who are coming out and trying to help Uvalde heal. That’s what we have to focus on. They’re going to have a scar forever.”

The shooting happened on Tuesday, May 24. McHazlett’s last day for La Pryor I.S.D. was that Friday.

“It was tough,” he said.

McHazlett said he’s trying to learn as much as he can about the Uvalde shooting so he can apply those lessons to La Grange.

“Safety and security is always on the forefront over everyone’s mind,” McHazlett said. “We need to make sure we provide social-emotional support for our students. Maybe there’s an indicator that there could be a risk later. How we harden our schools – we’re going to look at that here. I think La Grange has a good plan in place and a good system set up. Everything can always be improved upon. We’re going to evaluate every aspect of what we do.”

Plans for La Grange

McHazlett said he doesn’t have plans for any big changes at La Grange I.S.D.

“We’re going to focus on doing all the little things right,” he said. “As of right now, five days in, I’m getting a grasp of how things were done previously. I’m looking at changing some small things, maybe some bigger things. Before you tear a wall down, you want to know why it was built in the first place. I’m taking my time assessing and evaluating things before hastily making decisions that make no sense.

“I want to preserve the small town, conservative feel that La Grange has, but also raise the bar,” he added. “I don’t see myself making a bunch of wholesale changes because I think La Grange is doing a lot of things well right now.”

Changing Guard

McHazlett said he drove to La Grange and visited with former La Grange Superintendent Bill Wagner several times before starting the job last week. Wagner retired this year after 45 years in education.

“He’s a phone call away,” McHazlett said. “We had some good visits. I’ve been on the phone with him several times since I got here last Wednesday.”

Parent-School Relations

School boards across the nation have faced increased scrutiny from parents and community members concerning controversial library books, sex education, history lessons and views expressed by teachers in the classroom.

“We didn’t run into so much of that in La Pryor,” McHazlett said. “But I was at Burnet I.S.D before La Pryor, and even then, seven or eight years ago, there were some hot topics that arose. What we’re here to do is try and educate the kids the best way we can. As things come up and people aren’t happy with certain things, we have processes to handle them. But at the end of the day, every decision we make is going to be based on what’s best for the kids and how we can push them to the next level.

“When controversies come up, we’re going to deal with them in a transparent way,” McHazlett said. “I feel like I am a very transparent person. I’m open-minded and listen to conversations. At the same time, there are things I believe in. There’s a legal framework that we’ll follow as well.”

Familiar Faces

McHazlett is no stranger to La Grange. He worked for the district as a teacher and coach from 2003 to 2010.

“I’ll be honest, there are a lot of new faces here,” he said. “But there are a lot of familiar faces, too. It’s nice having some insight into the community and knowing some of the people here.

“I went to the donut place this morning and the lady said, ‘Hey, welcome back,’” McHazlett said. “I didn’t remember her, but she said she saw my name in the paper and recognized me. I ran into another lady at Walmart, and I taught and coached some of her kiddos. It’s been really nice.”

McHazlett, 52, and his wife Janna recently bought a house in La Grange. Janna McHazlett recently accepted a job as a sixth grade reading teacher at La Grange I.S.D. The McHazletts have three grown children and four grandchildren.

“We’re going to dig our roots in deep and enjoy our time here,” he said. “The reason I wanted to come back here is because I felt it was already a strong district.”