Board picks new superintedent

Gonzales Independent School District trustees have chosen the new superintendent to succeed Dr. Katy Herbold who has decided to retire from her career in education.

The board, in a meeting Monday night, May 3, chose Dr. Steven Ebell, assistant superintendent for curriculum and instruction at Hays Consolidated Independent School District in Kyle.

Ebell, who holds a doctorate in education from Texas A&M University, has set a tentative starting date of June 10. However, he plans to visit the Gonzales ISD as frequently as possible before taking the reins as the district's chief administrator.

Ebell said that after learning about the opening for a superintendent here he carefully researched the community and the school district. "I really like the makeup of the town and the makeup of the school district," Ebell said. He described Gonzales ISD as a good school district that has the potential to become a "great school district."

He said there are some similarities and some differences in comparing Hays CISD and Gonzales ISD. The Hays district includes the rapidly growing communities of Kyle, Buda and rural/suburban Hays County between San Marcos and Austin.

"We're very much a bedroom community for Austin," he said. The district has approximately 9,000 students and is adding 500 more each year. Though much larger than Gonzales ISD, its ethnic makeup is somewhat similar - roughly 55 percent Hispanic, 45 percent Anglo and a small segment of African American students.

Ebell grew up in Austin and graduated in 1986 from William B. Travis High School. He received a bachelor of arts degree in English in 1991 from the University of Texas at Austin. In 1995, he earned his master's in educational administration from Southwest Texas State University (now Texas State University) in San Marcos. He received his doctorate from Texas A&M in 2003.

Ebell began his education career with the Austin ISD, starting in 1993 as a special education teaching assistant at Wooten Elementary School where he assisted with classroom instruction of students with mild to severe disabilities. He went on to become a special education teacher at Kiker Elementary School where he taught students with mild to severe disabilities and sponsored several student organizations.

He spent a year (1995-96) as assistant principal at Krueger Elementary School in the Marion ISD in western Guadalupe County. While there, he developed and implemented an academic summer program for at-risk students. While serving as principal of Marion Middle School, he managed to achieve exemplary status for the first time in the school's history.

Ebell went from the Marion ISD to Hays CISD where he spent two years (1999-2001) as principal at Wallace Middle School/Kyle Intermediate School, a campus that under his leadership made the transition from a school for grades 4-6 to a middle school configuration of grades 6-8.

In 2001, Ebell became the Hays district's assistant superintendent for curriculum and instruction. His duties as assistant superintendent have included evaluations of principals on 13 campuses, and his achievements have included receiving recognized status for the first time in the district's history.

Ebell and his wife, Jennifer, have two children, a four-year-old daughter, Michelle, and a five-month-old son, Tyler. They are members of Hyde Park Baptist Church in Austin.

He indicated that he and Jennifer are anxious to start looking for a home in Gonzales. "We've already put our home on the market here," Ebell said.