{"id":82569,"date":"2025-12-10T02:29:06","date_gmt":"2025-12-10T02:29:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/82569\/"},"modified":"2025-12-10T02:29:06","modified_gmt":"2025-12-10T02:29:06","slug":"brian-lusk-dallas-isd-deputy-superintendent-tapped-to-lead-el-paso-isd","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/82569\/","title":{"rendered":"Brian Lusk, Dallas ISD deputy superintendent, tapped to lead El Paso ISD"},"content":{"rendered":"

Brian Lusk, Dallas ISD\u2019s deputy superintendent of school and academics<\/a>, will be El Paso ISD\u2019s next superintendent after the school board there approved his selection Tuesday night. <\/p>\n

The veteran educator is leaving Dallas ISD after three decades. He started his education career as an elementary school teacher in South Dallas and has held multiple teacher, principal and administrative roles in the district, including chief of strategic initiatives. In recent years, Lusk has spearheaded the expansion of Dallas ISD\u2019s ambitious career preparation<\/a> and college readiness programs. <\/p>\n

\u201cI love the opportunity I had in Dallas to work in an urban setting, and I think there are so many things that align to what the work is being done here in El Paso,\u201d Lusk said. \u201cI feel like the experience that I\u2019ve had and the leadership I\u2019ve been able to engage in has prepared me for this.\u201d <\/p>\n

In his new role, Lusk will lead the largest district in El Paso, which serves over 48,000 students. His first day is Dec. 10. <\/p>\n

The Education Lab<\/p>\n

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El Paso ISD\u2019s board of trustees selected Lusk as the sole finalist in late November, months after former superintendent Diana Sayavedra suddenly resigned<\/a> in June. Board members highlighted his track record in achieving student outcomes<\/a> in a large, urban school district similar to El Paso. Nearly 35,000 students in El Paso, about 73%, are economically disadvantaged, compared to 90% of Dallas ISD\u2019s 140,000 students. <\/p>\n

El Paso made significant academic gains<\/a> over the last year and received a B in this year\u2019s state accountability ratings. Like other districts across Texas, El Paso ISD is facing declining enrollment, campus closures and a $6 million budget shortfall. <\/a><\/p>\n

Related<\/p>\n

\"Opponents<\/p>\n

\u201cDr. Lusk has spent his entire career serving students and school communities, and that commitment resonates deeply with who we are as a district,\u201d Board President Leah Hanany said in a release. \u201cWe warmly welcome both him and his wife to El Paso and look forward to the exciting work ahead.\u201d<\/p>\n

Lusk, who grew up in Pennsylvania, says he knew he wanted to be an educator when he was 10 years old and coached younger kids in soccer. He holds a degree in elementary education, a master\u2019s in educational administration, and a doctorate in educational leadership and policy from the University of Texas at Austin. <\/p>\n

He said he was drawn to El Paso ISD because of its board\u2019s high expectations and the investments the district has made in career and technical education and early childhood education. <\/p>\n

Dallas ISD Superintendent Stephanie Elizalde said Lusk\u2019s work in Dallas to expand those programs, as well as his efforts to help significantly reduce the number of D- and F-rated schools<\/a>, has prepared him to lead El Paso ISD.<\/p>\n

Related<\/p>\n

\"Dallas<\/p>\n

\u201cI think what El Paso is going to see is that he\u2019s going to be able to come around and bring people into a united vision around the things they value,\u201d she said. \u201cHe\u2019s going to get them to continue to stay focused on kids, but at a new level.\u201d <\/p>\n

As deputy superintendent in Dallas ISD, Lusk oversaw 228 schools and led the district\u2019s academics, college and career readiness, counseling services, innovation, and athletics. Under his leadership, the district opened two new career institutes, which provide high schoolers hands-on training in areas such as health science, manufacturing and aviation that may not be available on their home campus. <\/p>\n

The district has taken a multi-pronged approach to readying students for life after high school, recognizing that while many will thrive in college, others want to enter directly into the workforce and earn a livable wage.<\/p>\n

Related<\/p>\n

\"Plumbing<\/p>\n

\u201cThere were a lot of kids who weren\u2019t really connected to school and we weren\u2019t meeting the needs of them, and so we\u2019ve done a much better job of meeting the needs of all of our learners,\u201d Lusk said of the career institutes. <\/p>\n

He has said he believes Dallas ISD needs to be the \u201ceconomic engine for the city\u201d<\/a> and align programs and pathways with the local job market. <\/p>\n

Children born in Dallas County have a 2 in 3 chance of not earning a living wage when they grow up, according to the Commit Partnership.<\/a><\/p>\n

The numbers show Dallas ISD\u2019s approach is getting students on track. Under Lusk\u2019s leadership, roughly 91% of graduates were deemed ready for college, career or the military based on state standards last year. Prior to the pandemic, that figure sat at roughly half. <\/p>\n

Related<\/p>\n

\"Dallas<\/p>\n

Over 900 juniors and seniors held internships this year, Lusk said, which helps students realize that careers after high school or college are possible. Hundreds of students earn associate\u2019s degrees each year<\/a> when they graduate from a Dallas ISD high school under the P-TECH program Lusk helped launch. <\/p>\n

\u201cMy North Star is having a pathway or program for every student,\u201d Lusk said. \u201cI always talk about this idea of the pathway to prosperity because every single one of our students deserves that \u2026It means we have options and we make sure there are no barriers for those students to get them.\u201d <\/p>\n

Related<\/p>\n

\"From<\/p>\n

Lusk also helped steer partnerships with regional schools and companies, including an international baccalaureate school<\/a> at Paul Quinn College in southern Dallas and a West Dallas STEM school<\/a> in collaboration with Toyota and Southern Methodist University. <\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m proud of those because what they\u2019ve done is provide more options and considerations for families,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n

Elizalde, who worked with Lusk for over 14 years, described him as someone who is skilled at listening to communities before making decisions. She pointed to the smooth rollout of Dallas ISD\u2019s new school counselor excellence initiative, a pay-for-performance program that aims to retain the best counselors, which Lusk oversaw earlier this year. <\/p>\n

\u201cHe brought principals and counselors in and said, \u2018Tell me, what are the challenges to your job? What are the metrics that would be meaningful?\u2019\u201d Elizalde said. \u201cIt takes a lot of time to do that. Consensus decision making is very messy and time consuming, but its implementation is so much smoother.\u201d <\/p>\n

When Elizalde tapped Lusk to be her deputy in 2023, she knew he would be a superintendent one day. She said his deep knowledge of curriculum instruction paired with school leadership experience means he can bring the right people together to level up a district\u2019s work. <\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s a saying that when you\u2019re the first to break through, you\u2019re the one that hits the brick wall. Everyone goes behind you because the hole has already been made,\u201d Elizalde said. \u201cBrian has the ability to be the first through that wall, of trying something new that no one else has done before.\u201d <\/p>\n

The DMN Education Lab deepens the coverage and conversation about urgent education issues critical to the future of North Texas.<\/p>\n

The DMN Education Lab is a community-funded journalism initiative, with support from Bobby and Lottye Lyle, Communities Foundation of Texas, The Dallas Foundation, Dallas Regional Chamber, Deedie Rose, Garrett and Cecilia Boone, Judy and Jim Gibbs, The Meadows Foundation, The Murrell Foundation, Ron and Phyllis Steinhart, Solutions Journalism Network, Southern Methodist University, Sydney Smith Hicks, and the University of Texas at Dallas. The Dallas Morning News retains full editorial control of the Education Lab\u2019s journalism.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Brian Lusk, Dallas ISD\u2019s deputy superintendent of school and academics, will be El Paso ISD\u2019s next superintendent after…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":82570,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[102,104,103,9029,13352,163,166],"class_list":["post-82569","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-dallas","tag-dallas","tag-dallas-headlines","tag-dallas-news","tag-ed-lab-local-school-news","tag-ed-lab-teaching-learning","tag-education","tag-education-lab"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/82569","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=82569"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/82569\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/82570"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=82569"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=82569"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=82569"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}