Dr. Gerald Anderson
Superintendent
Brazosport Independent School District
Email: ganderson@brazosport.isd.tenet.edu
After top administrative positions in Granbury, Joshua, Taft and Brenham school districts, he assumed his current position at Brazosport in 1991. He currently holds the position of Superintendent of the Brazosport Independent School District (BISD), with a student population of 13,500 students.
Located in the heavily industrialized area along the Gulf of Mexico, BISD became the first school district to win the Texas Award For Performance Excellence. Ninety percent of all student groups, - White, Hispanic, African-American, rich or poor - in each of the district's 18 schools achieved mastery on the Texas Assessment of Academic Skills (TAAS). Because of its TAAS accomplishments, BISD was recognized as Exemplary by the Texas Education Agency. According to Dr. Anderson, "This makes BISD the largest Exemplary school district in Texas, and the only one with over 10,000 students."
Believing that W. Edwards Deming's teachings could be applied successfully in public schools, Dr. Anderson began to train central office staff and principals in quality practices. As the team started to develop the District's vision, mission and strategic plan, they began by reviewing their core beliefs. "We believe all children can learn given the time and resources," states Anderson. "This core belief, and our commitment to provide all necessary resources, makes excuses for low academic performance based on socioeconomic or racial differences unacceptable."
In 1992, BISD implemented an Internet Customer Survey (ICS) designed to measure initiatives relating to employee satisfaction, well-being, professional and personal development and overall performance. In the 1992-1993 school year, 9 items scored 4 or less. By 1997, this number was reduced to 3. The two biggest write-in issues, discipline and facilities, have become fading concerns.
BISD has significantly increased spending for direct classroom instruction over the past several years while simultaneously reducing its general administrative costs. BISD taxpayers enjoy one of the lowest tax rates in the state. Based on audited results, the District consistently spends less than the state average, while having the best standardized test scores of any district in the state of similar size. This commitment to conservative spending represents a significant savings to the taxpayers of BISD.