Lubbock ISD chosen for Holdsworth Leadership Program

LUBBOCK, Texas (KCBD) - Lubbock ISD is one of just a handful of school districts chosen to participate in a prestigious leadership program.

Superintendent Kathy Rollo says the district went through a tough application process to get accepted. Educators will learn how to better serve students through the Holdsworth Leadership Program.

“They’ve done all kinds of different programs to help bolster and support public education,” Rollo said.

Lubbock ISD is taking advantage of those programs provided by the Holdsworth center in Austin.

After getting denied for the program a few years back, the district was one of only seven chosen to participate in the center’s leadership program this year.

“They were looking for districts that had a certain level of readiness for this type of work,” Rolls said. “They gave us some problems to solve and they felt that way our team interacted and worked together to come up with solutions to those problems, they felt like we had a level of readiness to really embrace this work.”

Now over the next four years the district will bolster what Superintendent Rollo calls its principal pipeline.

During that time, current and potential principals will learn from leaders in education and other sectors.

“We’ll bring all of that knowledge together and develop strategies and structures and systems for improving leadership development within Lubbock ISD,” Rollo said.

Rollo says the program includes both district and campus level staff members, making it easier to implement what the Holdsworth program teaches across the entire district.

“Half of our campuses will have the opportunity to take leadership teams to the Holdsworth Center and learn as well,” Rollo said. “So, we get a greater breadth of the learning as an organization, which will help us really impact the culture of the district.”

Rollo recently completed a leadership program with the Holdsworth Center. She says she hopes the rest of the district can benefit from it as much as she did.

“I’ve learned so much from the other superintendents that have been a part of this program,” Rollo said. “I’m hopeful that as our district team and then our campus teams have a chance to interact with these seven other districts, we’re also going to have a chance to learn a lot from each other.”

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