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Damon ISD super pulls out all the stops
Published November 10, 2009
DAMON — No one can say Damon ISD Superintendent Donald Rhodes isn’t involved with his work.
He’s head of the district, he’s the principal, and after the last bell, he files students into a bus and shepherds them home.
“It’s really a superintendent’s dream,” Rhodes said.
He’s used to bus duty and the two hats of principal and superintendent. Rhodes did both at Chester ISD before coming to Damon in 2008. Damon ISD seems to be getting a bargain for its triple-duty superintendent, who makes about $84,00 a year.
The rural farming community is tucked off Highway 36, north of West Columbia. It has 168 students in kindergarten through eighth grade, mostly from nearby farming communities.
Because of the district’s size, when Rhodes has a hard time finding a bus driver, “I’m it,” he said.
“The kids have to get home somehow,” Rhodes said.
His wife, Sherry Rhodes, is used to the fact her husband isn’t home until the last student is dropped off, which when he’s driving them to a game or a field trip might not be until after dark.
“It’s just a way of life for him,” she said.
As superintendent, Donald Rhodes recently landed $2.2 million in grants and loans from the U.S. Department of Agriculture for a 13,000-square-foot, nine-classroom wing. Construction hopefully begins in January, he said.
“He’s excellent at getting grants for the school,” said Kimberly Fabrygel, a fourth-grade teacher.
When he’s not busing students or hunting funds, Donald Rhodes plays literary critic.
Fourth-grader Madison Shillingburg usually won’t turn her English assignments in without passing them by her principal.
“I just like reading to him,” Madison said. “I read him a rough draft before I make a final draft.”
Rhodes walked down the hallway Thursday, saying “Hi” to every student who passed, when a student ran up to him with a frantic look on his face. The boy lifted his shirt to show his drooping shorts.
“Can I call my mom?” the student said. “I need a belt.”
Rhodes laughed.
“How about I loan you one?” he said, leading the boy to his office.
Other superintendents work harder than he does, they’re just not as involved, Rhodes said.
“I’m sure their cell phones ring 10 times more than mine does,” he said.
In Damon ISD, he witnesses how his work affects students from the moment they climb onto the bus to the moment they hop off.
“I may have the better deal,” he said.
John Tompkins is senior reporter of The Facts. Contact him at 979-849-8581.
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