Beard named new CISD superintendent

May 20, 2008 04:21 pm

— By Philip Navarrette
reporter@trcle.com

The Cleburne ISD school board named Dr. Ronny Beard as its new superintendent.
The Sweetwater ISD head was unanimously approved for the vacant post in a one-item meeting on Monday.
“This is exciting news, and I’m very happy to be here,” Beard said.
Board President Stu Madison said Beard’s hiring brought relief and excitement to the district.
“Dr. Beard was someone that we actively recruited early on in the process, identified as one of the rising stars in education,” Madison said. “Throughout the interview process, and even during our trip to Sweetwater, we discovered he was somebody that everybody universally liked.
“He had a great vision as far as design of curriculum, community relations and finance — the three things we needed the most. We walked in telling ourselves ‘This one is going to be all about curriculum and academics for the kids,’ but it came as a real bonus that he has a head for community relations and a real solid background in finance and federal funds.
“He’s everything we could have asked for, and we’re happy to have him,” Madison said.
Beard said his contract starts July 1, but he’ll make the transition into the district before then, coming in several days and commuting back to Sweetwater, he said.
Interim Superintendent Dr. James Warlick congratulated Beard on being named the new superintendent and said he’s confident Beard will have the kind of positive impact in the district he has in Sweetwater.
“He’s really improved their curriculum scores. He’s done an excellent job in getting the district together as a team and working together, and I feel like he’ll do the exact same thing here in Cleburne with the Yellow Jackets.”
Beard takes over for Robert Damron, who was reassigned April 1. The reassignment came 21 days after the district received a report from the Texas Education Agency questioning the district’s spending of federal funds.
The board named Beard as its lone finalist April 25, but state law requires the district to wait 21 days before hiring him.
Beard has been Sweetwater ISD’s superintendent since April 2004 and was assistant superintendent at White Settlement ISD for three years before that. He was also superintendent of schools at Star ISD from 1992-93.
Beard began his career in 1973 as a vocational agriculture teacher with Columbia-Brazoria ISD. In 1976 he was employed as a vocational teacher at New Horizons Boys Ranch in Goldthwaite. Before being named principal at Mullin, he served three years in that district, 1986-89, as an all-level science and agriculture science teacher.