Laura Palmer, Assistant Superintendent for Technology at the Houston Independent School District. A good leader is one who consistently performs well; an outstanding leader is one who can rise to the occasion in a crisis. The following example illustrates the kind of leadership Laura provided in a crisis of great consequence. I would appreciate your consideration of her credentials not only as an IT professional, but also as a Houstonian with a “can do” attitude.

In the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, Houstonians responded to the plight of those fleeing the storm with generosity and effectiveness. It was soon clear that most of those who had fled to Houston would have nothing to return to in the near future. Among the displaced were thousands of K-12 students who needed to be enrolled as quickly as possible.

Under the leadership of Assistant Superintendent, Laura Palmer, the Technology Department at the Houston Independent School District (HISD), responded with inventiveness, efficiency, and dedication. To implement emergency enrollment, the department created and deployed two self-contained fully functional networks capable of enrolling students at the two major relief sites. Technology staff members assembled/dismantled and transported the equipment to each location daily.

When the HISD Katrina task force, including technology staff, walked into the relief sites each with ten of thousands of people, many traumatized from their experiences, they knew that they must act quickly. With little time to lose, technology staff members created a software database application, specially designed for the enrollment effort, that was able to capture and merge student enrollment data from both sites so that they could tell the schools hour by hour which students would be at their campuses the next day. This allowed the teachers and their students to welcome the incoming students with open arms upon their arrival.

The system worked so efficiently that a student could be enrolled at 1 p.m., receive a school and teacher assignment, and be provided with transportation, meals, supplies, uniforms, and any required special services before the beginning of the next school day. Within a seven-day period, over 5800 students were enrolled via the software application and remote infrastructure developed and delivered by the HISD Technology Department. Such a feat would have been impossible except for effective technology and innovative leadership.

One of the most rewarding aspects of the entire experience was the partnership formed between HISD Technology and the National Foundation for Missing and Exploited Children. By sharing information from the enrollment database with the Foundation several families were reunited.

The success of the Technology Department’s effort validated the necessity of having a disaster preparedness plan. But a plan is just that, a plan. It required the ingenuity and hard work of Laura Palmer and her dedicated staff members working around the clock over several days to make the plan work to ensure that students who had lost virtually everything would not lose their chance to continue their education.

Laura and her department continue to serve all students and employees of Houston ISD by facilitating student learning and business initiatives and improving productivity across academic, administrative, and community functions.