Hitchcock ISD Board of Trustees nominate Travis Edwards for Superintendent of the Year

The Hitchcock ISD Board of Trustees have submitted their nomination of Superintendent Travis Edwards to the Texas Association of School Boards (TASB) for the 2023 Superintendent of the Year Award (SOTY).

Edwards has served as the leader of Hitchcock ISD since summer of 2019, taking over for former Superintendent Carla Vickroy upon her retirement.

This is the first time the HISD Board of Trustees has nominated a superintendent for this award.

“It is my fellow Board members’ and I’s distinct honor to nominate Mr. Travis Edwards for the 2023 Superintendent of the Year,” said Monica Cantrell, HISD Board President. “His vast expertise and leadership has been the motivation that we needed to take our school district to the next level. Under his leadership, with an ever-increasing enrollment, we have been able to reach many goals that we have set. We have great plans for the future as we continue to grow our district through new facilities and programs under his guidance.”

During his time with HISD, Edwards has overseen improvements across the district within leadership, management and school climate, school improvement, instructional leadership, fiscal management and school and community relations.

Since 2019, Edwards has implemented measures such as the Teacher Incentive Allotment through the Texas Education Agency (TEA), and has increased district staff salaries to become more competitive across the county and state. The starting teacher salary for the 22-23 school year in Hitchcock ISD rose to more than $58,000. Staff can also earn more through attendance incentives each semester. As of today, this has resulted in staff attrition being reduced by 50% since Edwards’ arrival.

Under Edwards’ leadership, Hitchcock ISD has improved its schools since 2019, as seen by the most recent TEA Accountability Ratings for the 2022 school year. The district rose its score from a “D” to a “B”, earning a numerical score of 88 out of 100. This score gave HISD the fourth highest rating behind Friendswood ISD, Clear Creek ISD, and High Island ISD, while being the second smallest out of the eight Galveston County school districts.

Since joining HISD in 2019, Edwards has also overseen improvements within the district's fiscal management. This year, Hitchcock ISD earned its second consecutive “A” on the Schools Financial Integrity Rating System of Texas (FIRST) Rating. The numerical score of 98% is the district’s highest rating in the last six years, increasing each year Edwards has been Superintendent.

Edwards also oversaw the passage of a $43.63 million bond package in May 2022, the first since 2008 and largest in school district history. Despite this passage, the district’s 2022-23 tax rate of $1.2046 remains the second lowest tax rate for Hitchcock ISD since at least 2011-12.

In addition to his work, Edwards serves for and is a member of many organizations in Hitchcock and Galveston County. He is currently the Director of the Hitchcock Chamber of Commerce, a member of the Hitchcock Economic Development Committee, the Bay Area Houston Economic Partnership and the United Way of Galveston County, and supports the local Hitchcock group, Sister’s Helping Everyone Excel. Edwards has also established scholarships for Hitchcock High School seniors through the Hitchcock ISD Education Foundation.

“I am honored and humbled by the recognition from our Board of Trustees,” said Edwards. “I have been blessed to be the Superintendent here for four years now and I am proud of what we have accomplished as a District with the support from our School Board. The extremely hard work from our staff and the support from our families helps to make a difference within our school district. As our motto goes....What starts here CAN change the World and we are doing that on a daily basis!”

TASB’s 2023 Schedule for selecting the Superintendent of the Year is as follows:
April 21: Nomination submissions due to designated ESC.
June 30: Regional screening completed and nominations submitted to TASB.
August 25–26: All regional winners interviewed and five finalists chosen by the TASB State
Selection Committee.
September: Finalists interviewed and Superintendent of the Year chosen by TASB State
Selection Committee.
September 29: Presentation of the award at txEDCON2023 TASA | TASB Convention.

Should Edwards win the Texas Superintendent of the Year Award, the Hitchcock ISD Board of Trustees will nominate him for the American Association of School Administrators (AASA), The School Superintendents Association, National Superintendent of the Year Award.