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March 4, 2009

JISD signs Joe Wardell as new superintendent

By Cristin Ross

cross@jacksonvilleprogress.com

It wasn’t a hard decision for Dr. Joe Wardell to seek the superintendent’s position at Jacksonville Independent School District.

Jacksonville already held a special place in his heart, since he met his wife of 35 years, Tricia Wardell, while they attended Jacksonville College.

“I went to Jacksonville on a basketball scholarship,” Wardell said Tuesday night after he was officially hired to be Jacksonville’s next superintendent. “I played two years and graduated in 1972, then went to Dallas Baptist and played two years there. Tricia graduated in 1973.”

Tricia Wardell is no stranger to the area either.

“I grew up in the Palestine area, so this is almost like coming home for me,” she said. “We spent a lot of summers at Lake Jacksonville.”

Both Wardells said they’re very excited about moving to Jacksonville.

“We’re really looking forward to getting involved with the community, finding a church and making Jacksonville home,” Tricia Wardell said.

JISD board members unanimously and enthusiastically hired Wardell.

“The only agenda item tonight is to go into closed session, but we’re not going to do that,” President James Houser said during the meeting. “There’s no need for that.”

Board members approved a three-year contract, effective March 23 to June 30, 2012, with a $134,870 annual salary.

“We’re all excited here and looking forward to working with you,” Houser told Wardell as he introduced the new superintendent to faculty and staff present at the meeting.

Wardell said he’s been a superintendent for 16 years, eight of those at his current district, Anna ISD.

“Anna’s a great school district, but this is a tremendous opportunity for me,” Wardell said. “While I was there it grew from a district of about 900 to one of more than 2,100.”

He said he was attracted to the district because of its high achievement level.

“There’s a lot of good things going on here,” he said. “I want to learn from the people here as much as anything, what they’re doing right.”

When asked what his initial goals for JISD are, he said his first order of business is to explore the district and its campuses more fully.

“I’ve not been inside any of the campuses yet,” he admitted. “But I want to get to know the people and see what’s taking place at each facility.”

He said he’s read up on the district’s attempts to pass a bond issue in recent years.

“I don’t know much more than what I’ve read,” he said. “But I’m willing to explore the situation further.”

Wardell said he wants the community to know his door is always open.

“I’m always glad to talk to people in the community,” he said. “In the grocery store, at a football game, wherever. The only place I’d ask them not to approach me about school business is at church.

“I firmly believe in an open-door policy. There’s just no other way to work,” he said.

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