At the regular meeting in July, the GCISD Board of Trustees approved the hiring of Gema Padgett as Executive Director of Human Resources and Gayle Smith as Director of Assessment, Evaluation and Research.
Gema Padgett
As executive director of Human Resources at GCISD, Padgett will be responsible for managing all areas of human resources including compensation, performance management, leave administration, employee training, employee relations, policies and practices, recruitment, staffing, and employee communications. She is currently the director of Human Resources for Duncanville ISD, where she has had responsibility for most of those same areas and gained experience and understanding of school district human resources.
Padgett has experience at both the elementary and secondary levels of public education. Prior to her position in Human Resources in Duncanville ISD, she served as principal, assistant principal and teacher in Mansfield ISD. She has provided leadership for strategic human resource activities and was a participant in the Visioning Institute, which has been an influential resource in the development of GCISD's LEAD 2021 strategic plan.
Padgett earned a Master of Education in Educational Administration from Tarleton State University and a Bachelor of Science in Elementary Education from the University of North Texas. With 15 hours earned in doctorate level course work, she holds superintendent and principal certifications.
Gayle Smith
In her new role at GCISD, Smith will oversee, implement and evaluate district programs to improve student achievement, analyze local, state accountability and AEIS data and serve as coordinator of the state testing program. She also will assist campuses in using assessments in instructional and program planning, and work with central office departments on assessment administrations and accommodations.
Smith's most recent role was as principal at Norton Elementary School in Allen ISD. While principal, she served as a leader in the North Texas Regional Visioning Consortium, a group of leaders in education whose focus is on transforming public schools through the development of innovative learning standards, assessment and accountability systems. With a strong understanding of formative assessment and 21st Century learning, Smith has had opportunities to implement strategies from the Visioning document, providing her with a strong understanding of the philosophy of GCISD's LEAD 2021.
Smith is pursuing a doctoral degree in K-12 Educational Leadership from Dallas Baptist University. She earned her master's in School Administration from Dallas Baptist University and her bachelor's in Elementary Education from Missouri Southern State College. Her certification as a Texas Superintendent is pending.
Both Smith and Padgett will begin their new jobs at GCISD prior to the start of the 2012-13 school year.
