Lamar CISD Superintendent Dr. Roosevelt Nivens has earned the prestigious honor of being named 2025 Superintendent of the Year by the Texas Association of School Boards (TASB) in a special presentation on Friday, Sept. 12, during txEDCON, the annual event hosted by TASB and the Texas Association of School Administrators (TASA). The award, which spotlights outstanding education leaders from across Texas, is celebrating its 41st anniversary this year.   

“It’s a joy and an honor to represent Lamar CISD as Superintendent of Schools,” Dr. Nivens said, “and I’m incredibly grateful and humbled to be named a Texas Superintendent of the Year and join the other distinguished recipients of this award over the past four decades.”  

Lamar CISD is currently the fastest-growing district of its size in Texas and has been designated a hypergrowth district due to the large number of housing starts and new families moving to the area. This school year, the district is projected to serve more than 49,000 students at 57 campuses, with enrollment forecasted to grow to nearly 70,000 within a decade.  

In naming Dr. Nivens among this year’s state finalists, the TASB committee cited his extensive experience as an educator, along with his efforts to navigate the challenges and opportunities associated with Lamar CISD’s hypergrowth in recent years, and his student-centered approach to leadership.  

“The challenges facing our school districts right now are real,” Dr. Nivens said. “Whether a district is large or small, growing fast or working hard to sustain enrollment, the landscape of public education is changing. I have tremendous respect for the work done by all my fellow superintendents across the state, and I’m thankful for the work TASA and TASB do in supporting district leaders and our elected trustees so we can give our best to the work.”

Earlier in the summer, the Region 4 Education Service Center recognized Dr. Nivens as the 2025 Region 4 Superintendent of the Year in a surprise announcement during Lamar CISD’s June School Board Meeting. The initial Superintendent of the Year nomination originated with the Board, which has itself been celebrating an award-winning year, having been named winning school board in the 23rd annual H-E-B Excellence in Education Awards in May. 

In congratulating Dr. Nivens on his statewide Superintendent of the Year win, Lamar CISD Board of Trustees President Jacci Hotzel emphasized the strong working partnership between the Superintendent and the Board as one key to the district’s culture of excellence.  “As I said this summer after he won the regional award, Dr. Nivens is a true servant-leader, dedicated to student success, and he’s not afraid to roll up his sleeves and do the work to make it happen,” Hotzel said. “He also goes out of his way to listen and get feedback, whether it’s from trustees, parents, community members, teachers and staff, and our students. He’s strong enough to lead, and humble enough to know he can’t go it alone."  

Dr. Nivens has served as the superintendent of Lamar CISD since 2021 and has more than three decades of experience in education. Before joining the district, Dr. Nivens served as Superintendent of Community ISD, a rapidly growing district in the Dallas-Fort Worth metroplex. Earlier in his career in Dallas ISD and Lancaster ISD, he held roles as an assistant superintendent, principal, teacher, and coach, developing a track record of improving student outcomes and building collaborative teams.  

His honors include Region 10 Superintendent of the Year and being named National Superintendent of the Year by the National Alliance of Black School Educators (NABSE). He was also named the 2022 Latino Serving Superintendent of the Year by the Association of Latino Administrators and Superintendents (ALAS). In 2024, he was elected Vice President of the Texas Association of School Administrators.  

“This year in our district, we’re celebrating the theme ‘We Are Lamar CISD.’ It’s a statement of pride in our work and who we are, but also a recognition that it takes all of us, working together and bringing an elite mindset every day, to be successful as a district,” Dr. Nivens said. “We shine brighter together. I’m here because I have such a great team of trustees that I get to work with. I’m here because we have amazing teachers and staff members across our district who speak life into our young people every day. I’m grateful to all of them for their passion and dedication to student outcomes, and I’m blessed to be able to represent Lamar CISD and accept this award, on behalf of our entire district."  

About TASB Superintendent of the Year Award  

Each fall, the Texas Association of School Boards (TASB) honors a superintendent with the Superintendent of the Year (SOTY) award, established in 1984 to recognize excellence in public school administration. Candidates must demonstrate visionary leadership, strong skills, dedication to education, and commitment to community involvement.  

The selection process begins in January with nominations from local school boards, followed by regional committee interviews. Finalists from each Texas education service center (ESC) region are announced in June and interviewed by a state selection committee, which announces the finalists in late summer. The naming of the Superintendent of the Year is a highlight of txEDCON, held each year in the fall to promote excellence in Texas public education.