Lee County is one to watch for a lot of reasons, including its schools, its students, and the leadership of Lee County Superintendent Lee H. Moore.
Lee County has been the only county in the U.S. that’s been rated the best school system by a national ranking by the Council of Chief State School Officers.
Moore is the first Lee County superintendent in more than a century to hold the position, and he’s made it a priority to improve the schools.
Moore’s tenure is marked by two important changes in the school system: his hiring of a new superintendent in the fall of 2017, and his decision to increase funding for Lee County schools from the current levels of $1.7 billion to $2.1 billion.
“Lee County has a reputation for having some of the most innovative school districts in the country,” said Moore, who was named to the position in 2017.
“The new superintendent has made a significant commitment to our students, our parents, and our community.”
The Lee County School District is a school district in Lee County, Texas.
The district has more than 3,500 students and serves more than 5,000 students.
Moore started the school district as a district-operated charter in 1976.
Today, it has more schools than any other district in Texas.
Lee County schools were ranked the best in the nation by the American Federation of Teachers in 2016, and Moore received a MacArthur Fellowship in 2020.
“The Lee Valley School District continues to be one of my proudest accomplishments,” Moore said.
“I have been proud to serve as Lee County’s superintendent and am honored to be an active part of the Lee County community.
Lee Valley is one that has inspired me and my wife for so many years.
I look forward to continuing to serve the people of Lee Valley and to being able to work closely with our students and their families as we build upon the gains made in 2017.”
Moore’s first major initiative as Lee’s superintendent came in February 2019.
Lee was one of two Texas districts that had been rated one of 50 top school systems by the National Assessment of Educational Progress.
The rankings came after Lee County was ranked the worst in the state for its school performance.
In 2018, Lee County passed the nation for the second time in a row, while the district improved its ranking from worst to first.
In 2018, Moore announced he would be making a $100 million investment in school infrastructure.
Moore has made the project a priority.
The first phase of the project included the construction of a school library, a new basketball court, a basketball court for students with special needs, and a new classroom.
Moore has also made the funding of school facilities a top priority.
The school district recently completed a new playground for students, a playground for parents, a tennis court for parents and staff, a soccer field, a field for kids with special medical needs, a football field, and an athletics field.
Last year, Moore made a $10 million investment to renovate the football field for the 2019 season.
The money will be used to renovating and expanding the existing football field in Lee Valley, including installing new bleachers and new turf.
The field is scheduled to be fully refurbished and ready to play by the 2018 football season.
Lee County is a community school district that serves nearly half of the 1.4 million students in the county, and it also serves nearly all of the students who attend other districts, including the city of Dallas.
A growing number of Lee counties students are attending private schools.
Lee schools also are some of Texas’ fastest-growing districts.
In 2017, Lee’s enrollment surpassed 3,000, and its growth was nearly five times that of the state average.
According to the U-T, Lee was the only school district ranked among the nation leaders in math, science, and social studies in 2019.
One of the largest concerns about the Lee Valley schools is that they are overcrowded.
There are currently 5,700 students in Lee schools.
The school district also has an enrollment of more than 2,200 students in private schools, according to the Lee Department of Public Instruction.
Over the past five years, Lee has experienced a steep increase in the number of students in special needs.
During the 2017-2018 school year, more than 800 students were admitted to the special education program.
During that same school year in 2018, more of those students were in special education.
With the rise of the special needs community, Lee had the highest number of special education students enrolled in the district in the past decade, said Lee Principal Julie Williams.
Williams said the district had to adjust some of its admissions procedures in 2017 to make room for the additional students.
Despite the challenges, Lee continues to receive high marks from the National Council of State Legislatures for its progress on the achievement of students with disabilities.
The council rated the district number four out of the top five, according a 2017