New Boerne school chief starts Jan.

12/10/2023 12:00 AM

2 SPECIAL TO THE STAR

The Boerne Independent School District board of trustees Thursday named Dr. Kristin Craft as their superintendent of Boerne ISD.

The board unanimously voted to hire Craft at a special meeting December 7. Craft will officially begin her tenure on January 2, 2024.

Current Superintendent Dr. Thomas Price will then transition to Superintendent Emeritus and serve as an advisor until his retirement at the end of the school year.

The Board named Dr. Craft as the lone finalist at a November 15 meeting. By law, the Board was required to wait 21 days before voting to hire her as the next superintendent.

“I am deeply honored for the opportunity to join the Boerne ISD family and serve as your superintendent of schools,” Craft said.

“As a career educator, I have dedicated 28 years to ensuring positive learning environments and strong academic outcomes for students in Texas public schools,” she said. “I am thrilled to make Boerne my new hometown and look forward to shaping the future for every student, teacher, leader, and family in BISD.”

Craft, the first female superintendent for the district, has served as associate superintendent of academics and chief academic officer in Spring Branch ISD in the Houston area since 2018.

She logged 20 years serving in district leadership roles, including 12 years as a principal. Craft served as a principal at every level, rising from elementary to intermediate and then to high school, between 2003 to 2015.

Carlin Friar, BISD board president, said Craft stood out from the other applicants, having been instrumental in the academic success made by Spring Branch ISD students. He said she helped close learning gaps after the pandemic, strengthened SBISD’s career and technical education program, and helped pass an important bond.

“We are absolutely thrilled to name Dr. Kristin Craft as the next superintendent and to welcome her to the Boerne ISD family,” Friar said. “The board focused on finding the right leader who will continue to build on the successes of Boerne ISD, and Dr. Craft is that person.”

While at Spring Branch, a district of more than 33,000 students, Craft helped the district earn a finalist award for the HEB Excellence in Education “Best Large School District” in 2023, as well as exceeding state and region in college readiness indicators: AP/IB results, OnRamps course credits, and SAT/ACT results (TAPR) in 2021 and 2022.

She also led the charge in increasing the number of Industry Based Certifications earned by SBISD students by 140% from 2019 to 2023. The district increased its number of students considered “CTE Concentrators” and “CTE Completers” by 13% over three years. Craft led strategic planning and support to help pass SBISD’s $381.6 million dollar bond election in 2022, as well as expanded multi-year summer school programming to accelerate learning recovery for more than 8,000 students.

“The selection of Dr. Craft would not have been possible without the results from the online community survey and input from in-person meetings by our search firm with community members,” Friar said. “Dr. Craft realizes the uniqueness of our community as well as the importance of maintaining the smalltown feel that we all love so much. She is the right person to lead BISD into the future.”