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March 6, 2023
Marble Falls ISD Board of Trustees named Dr. Jeff Gasaway as the lone finalist for Marble Falls ISD Superintendent at a special meeting Monday, March 6. This begins a state-mandated 21-day waiting period before a contract can be executed.
“I feel blessed to have been with Marble Falls ISD and part of the Marble Falls community for the past six-and-a-half years. I am honored to have the faith and confidence of the Board, staff, and community to lead the Marble Falls District to new heights. For the last 8 years, we have been dedicated to love and inspire the students and staff of MFISD. I promise to continue the growth we have seen and intend to build Marble Falls into a District of Destination,” Dr. Gasaway said.
Dr. Gasaway has lived in Marble Falls since 2016. His wife of 23 years, Kara Gasaway, also works for the District and is currently the Principal at Spicewood Elementary. The Gasaways have two sons. Hunter graduated from Marble Falls High School in 2020 and now attends The University of Texas at Austin where his major is Radio-Television-Film. Hayden is a Junior at Marble Falls High School, active as a varsity tennis player and the girls’ basketball manager. Dr. Gasaway enjoys hunting on the weekends to fill his freezer, going to the movies with Hunter, playing tennis with Hayden, and taking family trips to the beach.
Dr. Gasaway earned his undergraduate degree at Texas Tech University and later received a Master’s Degree in Educational Administration from Texas A&M Commerce followed by a Doctorate in Education from Baylor University.
Beginning his career in Lubbock Cooper ISD for a year before moving to Plano ISD, Dr. Gasaway spent thirteen years serving as an athletic trainer, teacher, coach, assistant principal, associate principal, principal and Director of HR. In 2010, Dr. Gasaway then moved to Midway ISD where he ultimately served as principal of Midway High School. During his time at Midway, Dr. Gasaway also worked as an adjunct professor at Baylor University teaching a leadership class for freshmen students.
In 2016, Dr. Gasaway began his tenure at Marble Falls ISD and his impact has been widespread across the district. He attributes his track record of success to surrounding himself with good leaders and support staff who help accomplish the ultimate goal as a team. An emphasis on the value of board leadership and a shared vision is also expressed by Dr. Gasaway. “Our school board is the backbone of Marble Falls ISD. Under their leadership and guidance, we have been able to accomplish initiatives more effectively and efficiently than originally projected. We look to our board for inspiration and love and are empowered to pass that on to the students and families in our community,” said Dr. Gasaway.
Safety and security have been forefront in the domain of education recently, and for good reason. Dr. Gasaway has taken lead in safety and security programs in Marble Falls ISD. Among these initiatives are the Guardian Program, which was instated under Dr. Gasaway’s direction and guidance in 2018. He has spent countless hours coordinating and collaborating with local law enforcement and first responders to create policies and solutions for school safety and emergency protocols. Marble Falls ISD now has School Resource Officers (SROs) from multiple jurisdictions dedicated to protecting students and staff at each campus, and Dr. Gasaway was instrumental in this plan coming to fruition.
Cord Woerner, a district employee for 17 years before retiring in 2021 as the Director of Special Programs, worked closely with Dr. Gasaway on safety and security matters. Mr. Woerner said, “It was a pleasure working with Dr. Gasaway over the last 5 years before I retired, and there were a number of new programs started and a lot of progress made in so many areas. His common sense and ability to move ahead and get things done and accomplished were really refreshing. He was able to deal with parents, teachers, and kids. He understands the school system and education from the ground up. He has been in so many roles from top to bottom that he understands how everything works together toward the big picture. It makes it so much easier and smoother to get things done that way.”
Another district success to which Dr. Gasaway had formidable contributions is the 2018 Bond Package implementation. Within the bond, Gasaway executed safety and security initiatives including the installation of security cameras, prop door alarms, and panic buttons on every campus. Transportation upgrades, such as new buses with technology and safety enhancements like Wi-Fi and visibility lighting, elevated the fleet. A full refresh of technology devices was accomplished on all campuses along with infrastructure improvements like Wi-Fi routers, and Gasaway was able to acquire better devices at lower costs through negotiation during the purchase. Dr. Gasaway supervised the renovations of Marble Falls High School, Marble Falls Middle School, Highland Lakes Elementary, and Marble Falls Elementary to come in under budget while increasing the usability and safety of each campus. By completing the planned projects under budget through negotiation with vendors and contractors, Dr. Gasaway was able to stretch the bond dollars further; he purchased LED lighting to save on monthly overhead, new band uniforms, a replacement baseball scoreboard, and a new surface for the tennis courts at the high school. He continues to look for opportunities to improve Marble Falls ISD through good stewardship of bond funds.
One area Dr. Gasaway saw the potential for improvement and led significant change is in employee benefits, retention, and recruitment. Under his leadership, the employee health care plan has advanced each year since 2016, accomplishing the ultimate goal of employees being offered a health plan with a zero-cost monthly premium. Employees have also received a raise every year of Dr. Gasaway’s tenure along with periodic retention incentives, which is another substantial accomplishment. Dr. Gasaway finds importance in giving employees the opportunity to grow and has been instrumental in the development and deployment of the “Love, Inspire, Teach” program, which allows paraprofessionals and other non-degreed employees to receive a scholarship to complete a bachelor’s degree and earn teacher certification.
Dr. Gasaway believes in hiring the best people to work within the Marble Falls School District, so he takes an active role in the recruitment and hiring process. A recruitment initiative Gasaway helped create and craft offered strong bonuses to current employees to help recruit quality and highly qualified employees across all departments. This significantly contributed to the fact that Marble Falls ISD was fully staffed to start the 2022-2023 school year when other area districts were crucially understaffed. Dr. Gasaway also leads the process for principal position hiring and other key leaders and directors within the District, actively searching, interviewing, and recruiting in order to select the best fit for the available position.
Another initiative Dr. Gasaway led is the Child Nutrition Community Eligibility Provision (CEP), a meal service option for schools in high-poverty areas in which all students in our district receive breakfast and lunch free of charge. Dr. Gasaway sought out an application for this specific program and led the initiative to keep our child nutrition program focused on refreshing and increasing the meals offered to our students.
Two important committees that Dr. Gasaway led include the Elementary School Attendance Zoning Committee formed in Spring of 2022 and the Superintendent Student Advisory Committee. The Zoning Committee, comprised of district leaders, community members, parents, and employees, aimed to balance enrollment among elementary schools and to plan for additional students from new-construction neighborhoods in development within the district. New boundaries were considered, proposed, and ultimately passed by the Board of Trustees to be implemented in the 2023-2024 school year, giving parents and developers plenty of advance timing to plan accordingly. The Student Advisory Committee activates student agency by allowing a diverse group of high school students voice in the decisions of the District. These young people have provided input on a wide array of topics from the academic calendar to the Student Code of Conduct. Dr. Gasaway’s work with this group highlights his focus on student needs and the important contribution students can make to fulfilling the vision of the District.
Over the recent years, Marble Falls ISD has faced major natural disasters that have significantly impacted the entire community. During the flood in 2018, the winter storm in 2021, and the pandemic beginning in 2020, Dr. Gasaway has stood strong in his leadership. He ensured school shelters were open and available, food was provided for first responders and community members in need, internet was deployed through hot-spots and Wi-Fi enabled buses-- not only to Marble Falls students but also shared with Llano ISD at times-- and unique pandemic-focused needs such as sanitization devices and virtual classroom technology supports were available.
Dr. Gasaway frequently credits the District’s exceptional Board of Trustees and the partnership they share in leading Marble Falls ISD forward. Board President, Kevin Naumann, shared, “Dr. Gasaway is the natural fit for the role of Superintendent for Marble Falls ISD. He is humble and kind, and he has a heart for every child’s success. He has been loyal to the District and has a proven track record of smart, thoughtful, and strategic decision making; all while loving every child, staff, and community member in a way that inspires them to be their very best. He listens and cares deeply. He is honest and genuine. He has a deep knowledge of the educational institution, but, more importantly, he is driven by a set of core values and faith that he is working toward something greater than himself or any one of us. Our Board of Trustees are excited to see Dr. Gasaway take the reins as he leads Marble Falls ISD onward and upward!”
