Katy ISD leader says ‘smear campaign’ has prompted retirement

As board approves legal support, Hindt says he’s leaving post

In a surprise, Katy ISD’s embattled superintendent late Thursday announced his retirement effective next Jan. 1, as the district board voted to approve a proposal to provide legal support for Lance Hindt, who has been dogged by decades-old bullying claims arising from his middle and high school years.

During the board’s open session late Thursday, Supt. Hindt said: “Coming home to Katy to lead this school district where I grew up and attended school was my highest professional honor.”

But the superintendent said what he called a smear campaign by a small group has made it too hard for his family, including his wife son and daughter.

Katy ISD trustee George Scott offered a strong reaction, saying: “I am heartsick that we are losing this man. The viciousness, the meanness of what has happened to his family is despicable.”

Trustee Rebecca Fox said, “Now, our teachers are afraid. They’re afraid that they’re next. ‘Are they trying to find out something I did when I was younger?’”

Board president Ashley Vann called Hindt “a passionate educator” and a “kind friend.” She

added, “It’s time for this to come to an end. It’s time to defend ourselves.”

The board voted to hire the firm of Feldman and Feldman as the outside counsel to pursue the defamation case.

District officials said the reason for the legal action is to “curb the harm” to Hindt as chief executive which “has placed us all in a negative light.”

After meeting in closed session, the board gathered in open session to consider “engaging special counsel to pursue legal action for defamation on behalf of the superintendent, other school officials, and/or staff,” according to a meeting notice.

Hindt, who was hired in August 2016 to lead the sprawling district west of downtown Houston, has denied the bullying allegations while acknowledging that he did “dumb things” as a younger man prior to a religious awakening. But he also lamented in a statement in April the “evil among us,” pushing back against those who “will do anything to destroy someone’s good reputation and 27year career.” Trustees have stood behind Hindt, a Katy-area native who previously led the Allen ISD.

His statements have not satisfied critics, who say bullying is pervasive and tolerated in the district. One Katy parent, Sean Dolan, has used a website to step up criticism of Hindt, going so far as to raise questions on his website about what he says is potential plagiarism by Hindt in his 2012 doctoral dissertation at the University of Houston. A Katy ISD spokeswoman told a local news station there was “zero truth to this allegation.”

A UH spokesman said this week that the university has policies and procedures in place to ensure academic integrity and address allegations of academic misconduct. But in accordance with the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act, he said, “UH cannot comment on allegations made about a specific student.”

A constitutional law expert said this week that Hindt as a government official will face more difficulty proving that he has been defamed than if he were a private citizen.

As the meeting adjourned, Hindt walked out.

mike.glenn@chron.com twitter.com/mrglenn