KILLEEN, Texas (KXXV) — Just last week Dr. King Davis put pen to paper to become Killeen ISD’s next full-time superintendent. 25News Bobby Poitevint sat down with Dr. Davis in an exclusive 25-minute interview for the first time since officially taking the job last week.
Dr. Davis said he found out that the job was his at the same time the public did during a special meeting last Monday. Until then, he’d been an interim superintendent for the district for roughly the last three months.
FIRST WEEK
“So how has the first week been for you?" Bobby asked.
“It’s been wonderful. I mean, quite honestly nothing much has changed," replied Davis.
Within his first week on the job full-time, it was reported that two district employees resigned following family sexual misconduct allegations that did not happen on campus along with a KISD principal named 2026 Texas principal of the year.
Also See: UPDATE: KISD Superintendent resigning for San Antonio school district
Also see: Killeen ISD names Dr. Terri Osborne as acting Superintendent
TIMELINE
“Do you think you’ll be here for the long haul as superintendent?”
Dr. Davis replied, “Sure, as I told the board. The children, the staff deserve stability and consistently.”
Dr. Davis said the district has four priorities going forward that they’re having a “laser light focus” on.
- Student safety and success
- Human Capital (hiring and retaining “highly effective” educators)
- Financial Efficiency
Dr. Davis said student enrollment has dropped, thus impacting their financial aid.
Also on the horizon are campus closures and student consolidations.
Also See: Killeen ISD to close three schools to cut costs amid declining enrollment
Also see: Killeen ISD board approves major optimization plan, school closures
IMPROVING EDUCATION
“Do you think this is what’s going to make that happen- help improve education?"
Dr. Davis responded and said, “Well it’s a piece of the puzzle right? There’s lots of moving parts as it relates to impacting student outcomes and so that’s certainly one of them.”
“Research is pretty clear the number one factor outside of a parent for student success is the classroom teacher. So we have to have effective high performing classroom teachers,” — “I know we have many here, but we also have to continue to improve there because we do have some certified teachers and unfilled positions, and so we have to continue to address that," he added.
SEEING CHANGES
“What’s a time-frame for this kinda thing? Could we see a game changer in scores as early as next year?”
“Well we're certainly hopeful. I mean, I certainly won’t say that we’re gonna see a great improvement at the end of this school year. I can’t guarantee that. I will say that I’m confident based on some of the things we’re implementing. Of course I got here, school was practically about to start, so some things had already been decided upon.”
SCHOOL SAFETY
Dr. Davis understands the challenges ahead for the district. He didn’t shy away from questions about safety, especially following last March's deadly stabbing death of 14-year-old Serenity Baker on campus.
“What kind of confidence do you have that something like that won’t ever happen again to another student?”
“Sure I think our parents are very smart people. I won’t ever stand before a parent, anyone and give a falsehood. I think folks are smart enough to understand it’s not 100%. You can’t guarantee anything but what I will say — I’m very confident in lowering that."
He added, "The reality is the whole idea is to deter negative behaviors, to put in systems to lower that risk. That’s what we’re doing.”
“It’s no different than any entity rather it be at an airport, all the places that we try to remain safe. It’s never 100% right" said Dr. Davis.
“Does all of this kinda feel overwhelming to you?”
Dr. Davis responded, “No, I’m certainly not Superman but this doesn't frighten me. It’s just having a laser light focus on the right things.”
“It’s gonna take all of us to get this done." he added.
