Tracy Johnson has paid close attention to Keller ISD’s budget for years as the district’s chief human resources officer.
In that role, she has followed conversations across the state around funding public education.
Her main priority as the district’s next superintendent is getting the district’s budget “in check,” as it faces a potential $27 million deficit in the 2024-25 school year.
Keller ISD trustees voted 6-0, with trustee Ruthie Keyes absent, to name Johnson the lone finalist for superintendent at a special meeting Nov. 27. Johnson has been with the district for nine years and will be the district’s first woman superintendent, according to Keller ISD.
“I’ve been in the district for many years, so we’re not going to have that season of ‘getting to know everybody,’” Johnson said. “We’re going to be able to hit the ground running.”
There will be a state-mandated 21-day period before Johnson officially begins her duties. After that, the board is expected to call another special meeting to formally hire her as superintendent.
Her tentative start date is Jan. 2, 2024.
Johnson is expected to succeed Rick Westfall, who announced his retirement as superintendent in June. John Allison has worked as interim superintendent since Westfall stepped down.
The superintendent search had 12 candidates, but trustees only interviewed Johnson, who will lead a district of 51 square miles and 42 campuses, serving more than 34,000 students, board President Charles Randklev said.
Budget deficit
The district is on the brink of a deficit for the next school year.
Allison said at the November school board meeting that the projected shortfall is because of inflation, low state funding and mandates like House Bill 3, which requires armed security at every public school in Texas.
“The state has not shown up for us down in Austin, and they’re not adequately funding public education,” Johnson said. “So that means we’re going to have to do some heavy lifting around here.”
Johnson is deeply rooted in the Keller ISD community, Randklev said.
“She has paid close attention to what is going on with Austin in terms of some of the challenges that we’re having with state funding, and I think she has a vision and a plan that will help us with that,” he said.
The district previously held community meetings where residents, parents and students could voice what they wanted to see in the district’s next superintendent. The law firm Leasor Crass assisted the school board with the search process.
The community noted that they want a leader who focuses on students’ academic success and personal growth, Randklev said, and Johnson will best meet the district’s needs.
Who is Johnson?
Johnson has worked in public education for over 22 years. She earned her Bachelor of Science degree from Texas Woman’s University and her master’s degree and doctorate from the University of North Texas.
She began her educational career as a third-grade teacher at Northwest ISD and later transitioned into an administration role in Grapevine-Colleyville ISD before joining Keller ISD.
Johnson said she’s an educator first and foremost, and her spirit lifts whenever she enters a classroom.
“That’s the true work of what we’re doing,” she said.
After leaving Keller ISD to serve as the executive director of human resources at Denton ISD in 2016, Johnson returned to the district in 2019 in her current role.
Johnson’s husband, Harold Johnson, recently retired from Keller ISD after almost a decade of serving in the district.
Keller ISD resident Mary Anne Weatherred told the Report she hopes Johnson can bring her expertise from human resources to focus on teacher retention.
Johnson told trustees Oct. 23 that the district has filled all classroom teaching and librarian vacancies, a total of 432 positions this year.
“That is the other big issue besides the budget,” Weatherred said.
‘Now we wait and see’
Keller ISD parent Laney Hawes, who has four children in the district, attended two out of four community meetings about the superintendent search. For her, it’s important to have a superintendent prioritize children and support public education.
Hawes said she was “pleasantly surprised” that Johnson was named the lone finalist. Hawes is optimistic about Johnson, whom she doesn’t know much about.
“So now we wait and see,” she said.
Dang Le is a reporting fellow for the Fort Worth Report. Contact him at dang.le@fortworthreport.org or via Twitter. At the Fort Worth Report, news decisions are made independently of our board members and financial supporters. Read more about our editorial independence policy here.
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