PRESIDENT PROFILE
Texas Association of Community Schools
Kevin Noack steps up to lead Texas’ community schools association by James Golsan
T
he Texas Association of Community Schools (TACS) defines the “community schools” in their membership as districts with fewer than 12,000 students in average daily attendance, or districts that have only one high school. While there are some larger districts that might fit the latter half of that definition, that means many of the districts that are TACS members come from smaller communities. Working with such communities is a comfortable fit for Kevin Noack, Palmer ISD superintendent and new TACS president. A native of Olton, he grew up in a small town and attended a small school in a small district, much like those he now represents. Like many who enter the education field, he was partially inspired by family to do so, though not by his parents, as is often the case. “My father owned a grocery store,” Noack says, adding that he saw himself entering the business community while he was growing up. Noack married young, and says it was his wife, a teacher herself, who first gave him the idea that he might like teaching. “I married young and went back to school late, and kind of decided during my first semester, ‘You know what, I’ll go ahead and get my degree and teach science.’”
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Texas School Business MAY / JUNE 2021
Upon graduating from Wayland Baptist University in San Antonio, Noack did exactly that. He was a classroom teacher for five years, three spent teaching fifth grade science and two teaching physics and physical science. Yet while he loved many things about the education profession, Noack found himself with a rare problem among teachers. “Quite frankly I was bored, come June, July and the first part of August,” Noack says with a laugh (stressing that it was the free time and not the work that got to him). “So I decided to go into administration.” He pursued and earned his master’s degree at Eastern New Mexico University, and in his own words, “never looked back.” He’s been a superintendent for 20 years, the last 12 with Palmer ISD. Though Noack’s education career is long and distinguished, he’s a relatively new member of TACS, especially for someone who has ascended to the organization’s presidency. His involvement with the organization began just five years ago, though Noack is quick to emphasize that he has always been impressed by and respected the work the organization does.
