Extending an Educational Lifeline

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“SCHOOL SAVED ME,” LaTonya Goffney flatly admits. “At school I was told I was smart. I thrived.”

Her life-altering elevation through her public school experiences is something she aspires to replicate for every child under her purview as superintendent of Texas’ Aldine Independent School District on the fringes of Houston.

Born and raised in Cold Spring, a small town in East Texas, Goffney grew up in severe poverty. “My mom was 15 when she had me. I moved in with my grandmother, who was a housekeeper for an Anglo family.”

She sees a younger version of herself among the 67,000 students in Aldine’s schools, 73 percent of them Hispanic and 23 percent Black. At least 90 percent qualify for free lunch. That means Goffney defines her role as “making sure there’s equity, demonstrating what’s possible.”

Like many of her students, she benefited from meals served at school, as well as the encouragement and support of a guidance counselor who helped her apply to college.

In her 2½ years in Aldine, she has taken significant strides, notably reassigning the most highly effective principals and teachers to low-performing schools. “Principals interviewed for the positions and had to demonstrate high effectiveness and accomplishments in their previous roles,” she says. “Teachers had to reapply for a position on the campus.”

Financial incentives, specialized training and additional professional development ensured these educators delivered their best efforts.

Goffney and her team developed more AP classes and other opportunities for high schoolers. The district now has a PTECH program, with four career pathways for students, including teacher prep and cyber security.

“Students have real-world experience, get internships and can work a job and go to school,” says Goffney. “They graduate with more than a local high school diploma.”

One thing I truly believe is that you have to get them early. I expanded pre-K-3 and universal pre-K. We want to give students a head start.

At her previous district in Lufkin, Texas, she launched a STEM Academy that partners with Stephen F. Austin State University and Early College High School, allowing students to graduate with associate degrees and become first-generation collegians, according to Keven Ellis, a member of the Texas State Board of Education.

Under her leadership, the district improved from a C-rated district to a B-rated district, based on state metrics “She was hired to be transformative and has brought some schools that were D or F up to B,” says Aldine school board president Paul Shanklin.

Believing “literacy is the new equity,” Goffney has launched a literacy initiative to ensure confident reading by 3rd grade. “One thing I truly believe is that you have to get them early. I expanded pre-K-3 and universal pre-K. We want to give students a head start.”

Support for the entire student comes through social emotional learning and restorative justice as well as school-based health clinics and a Family Community Engagement Center that runs training for parents in Spanish and English to help children with virtual learning.

“In a district our size, you can’t afford to have mediocre or incompetent leaders,” Goffney says. “Our students deserve the very best.”

Her mentoring hasn’t been limited to Aldine. She launched a private GroupMe forum for women superintendents in Texas, which functions a “continual support network,” says colleague Jill Siler, superintendent in Gunter, an hour north of Dallas.

It’s all of a piece for Goffney. As she sees it, you “have to connect, inspire and make an impact.”