When Katy ISD parted ways with their outgoing superintendent last year, the school district paid Lance Hindt more than $500,000 more than it should have under state law, according to the Texas Education Agency.
For this, the TEA reduced the school district’s budget heading into the 2019-2020 school year, the governing body told ABC13.
Hindt, who resigned in 2018 in the face of various accusations that include bullying during his youth and plagiarism of his dissertation at University of Houston, reached a severance settlement with the Katy ISD Board of Trustees at the tune of $955,795.
According to TEA, Hindt was supposed to be paid his annual salary of $442,041.
The agency did not say whether the overpayment was intentional or an oversight.
Texas law sates if a school district pays a superintendent more than their annual salary in the event of an early termination, the difference will come from the schools overall budget. That reduction was already in effect for this school year after TEA notified Katy ISD last May.
Reporters reached out to the school district for comment regarding the budget reduction, including how it affects its near 80,000 students. As of Friday evening, Katy ISD has not answered back.
