DeSoto ISD hires Dr. Kathy Augustine as new superintendent

DeSoto News - Education

DeSoto, TX. - The DeSoto ISD Board of Trustees officially voted to extend a contract to Dr. Kathy Augustine on May 12 at a Special Board Meeting following the mandatory 21-day waiting period after being named the lone finalist. She will officially start on July 11 but will be visiting throughout June as part of the transitional period. The search for a new superintendent began in January after current Superintendent Lloyd Treadwell announced his retirement this coming July.

“The Board is excited about the experience and knowledge Dr. Augustine is bringing to DeSoto ISD,” said new Board President Warren Seay, Jr. “We feel we are on the cusp of exemplary as a district and share the high expectations of this community to be among the elite academic districts in the nation.”

Dr. Augustine has served as deputy superintendent of curriculum and instruction for Atlanta Public Schools since 2001 and has more than 34 years of experience working in an urban school setting. Prior to joining the leadership team in Atlanta, she was the assistant superintendent of high schools for Newark Public Schools. She has also served as special assistant to the superintendent for New Orleans Public Schools and was a principal for elementary and high schools. She began her education in 1975 as a teacher.

Dr. Augustine visited the district and joined the Education Foundation in their annual Prize Patrol on May 23. That afternoon, she met with leadership staff before attending a reception for retiring Board President Dee Trimble and then the DeSoto ISD Board Meeting.

Based on her observations, Dr. Augustine stated, “I have studied the data over the past five years and I believe that DeSoto ISD has built a strong foundation and is primed for closing the achievement gap and becoming a model district for the nation. In addition, DeSoto is a very close community with caring, friendly people who have compassion for children and a passion in education that I share."

“Moving from Atlanta to DeSoto is not downsizing for me, it is right sizing! We have work to do; rigorous work to further gain momentum and make sure that all of our students achieve academically. Together, our community, our district and our children will realize the vision of exemplary status."

Dr. Augustine received her Ed.D. from Harvard University and earned a M.Ed., Administration, Planning and Social Policy from Harvard University as part of Harvard’s Urban Superintendents Program. She received a M.A., Educational Administration from the University of New Orleans and a B.S., Elementary Education, from Loyola University in New Orleans.

Dr. Augustine was the winner of the 2010 Council of the Great City Schools Curriculum Leadership Award. She is the mother of two children.