Adams’ 27 years as KISD trustee marked by growth
When Joe Adams attended his first school groundbreaking as a Katy ISD trustee about 27 years ago, nothing but prairie lay west of the site for Edna Mae Fielder Elementary, which is east of Texas 99 on Greenway Village Drive.
When Adams, 63, left office recently, development had transformed the area into a busy suburban district.
That’s not all that has changed during Adam’s tenure on the board.
The district’s enrollment has grown by more than 53,000 to about 73,000. Three superintendents have served and 41 out of the district’s 60 schools have opened.
But life will now begin on the board without Adams, who was ousted from Position 1 by longtime district critic George Scott, who won by 6 votes after a recount from the May 7 election. The loss came after Scott criticized Adams during the campaign of having
become complacent on the board and lacking leadership.
Adams will now begin life without the board.
“We have great people working for us in the district. I’ll miss the day-today contact with the administration — with the things that are going on in our district,” Adams said. “It’s an era that has passed. (I) just have to move on.”
The biggest change Adams has seen through the years, he said, relates to technology. Hardly anyone owned laptops when Adams started as a trustee in 1989, and the dawn of social media was years away.
Adams is proudest of the several bond referendums he helped pass, which he said helped keep KISD financially stable. His fondest memories are of standing on stages as a trustee and congratulating outgoing KISD seniors at numerous graduation ceremonies. Thanked for service
At a board meeting last week, trustees thanked him for his service.
“There’s no other person that I have served with in my many years of leadership that has been such a gentleman and so farthinking,” a tearful trustee Ashley Vann told Adams.
Vann graduated from the district’s James E. Taylor High School when Adams started as a trustee.
“You’ve helped me figure this job out,” Vann said. “I appreciate you. I honor you. I value you. I will miss you.”
“The sign on the (board chamber) back wall, ‘Be the Legacy,’ has your name written all over it,” new board president Rebecca Fox told Adams. “You have been a vital part of the success of Katy ISD. You have served us with integrity and honor, and you’ve mentored all of us.”
But Adams also has had his share of critics, with residents such as Scott questioning his leadership. Over years, KISD’s board has been criticized as not being transparent enough to the public and being influenced too much by Superintendent Alton Frailey, who is retiring this summer after nine years at the helm. Symbol of issues
As the longest tenured board member by far, Adams became a symbol of those perceived issues to some.
“I think that we are in a public office; so we are subject to criticism,” Adams said. “No matter what board you’re in, you’re always going to have people that will criticize you for whatever reason.”
Adams, who owns Bluebonnet Painting Renovations and Remodeling and Budget Blinds in Katy, said he will continue to pursue volunteering opportunities at the district. Adams was a founding member of the KISD Education Foundation, which provides teaching curriculums for children that allow a more hands-on approach to learning. Focus on foundation
Adams plans to be more involved in the foundation as well as programs such as Keep Encouraging Youth Toward Success, a district mentoring program.
Adams served as a member of the board of directors for the Texas Association of School Boards, a position he conceded when he lost the KISD election because members of the TASB board must also serve on their local boards. He was also KISD board president four times during his tenure.
Adams has lived in Katy for decades, and both of his children were district graduates.
“I think different people will have different remembrances of me,” Adams said. “Those that were with the district will remember what we built on the board, and the people not on the board will remember that I was on the board for 27 years. I hope that former board members and current board members and community members will look at me and say, ‘He did a job well-done.”